When you’ve built an institution with values and a purpose beyond just making money—when you’ve built a culture that makes a distinctive contribution while delivering exceptional results—why would you capitulate to the forces of mediocrity and succumb to irrelevance? And why would you give up on the idea that you can create something that not only lasts but deserves to last? The best corporate leaders never point out the window to blame external conditions; they look in the mirror and say, “We are responsible for our results!” Those who take personal credit for good times but blame external events in bad times simply do not deserve to lead our institutions. No law of nature dictates that a great institution must inevitably fall, at least not within a human lifetime. That most do fall—and we cannot deny this fact—does not mean you have to be one of them.

– Jim Collins