Visionary companies refuse to abide by the so-called "tyranny of the OR", whereby a company must choose between staying true to its core ideology or stimulating progress.
Instead, visionary companies use "the genius of the AND" – experimenting and developing – while still adhering to their core ideologies.
Visionary companies have their core ideologies to guide them, but they are also relentless in their efforts to continually improve their products, business and organization.
They never settle and never become complacent.
Consider the founder of the Marriott Corporation, J. Willard Marriot, who lived by the motto “Keep on being constructive, doing constructive things, until it's time to die… make every day count, to the very end.”
This sounds rather depressing, but is also a great commitment to constant progress.
Visionary companies preserve their core ideology while relentlessly stimulating progress and improvement.