Editors’ note: The article that follows comes from the second chapter of Marvin Bower’s 1966 book, The Will to Manage. Bower, who passed away on January 22 at age 99, was a legendary business figure who served as McKinsey and Company’s managing director from 1950 to 1967 and as its guiding influence for more than 60 years. This excerpt features his insights into building a corporate philosophy based on ethical behavior, objectivity, and competitive drive.

I have an abstract painting in my office that I bought in London off the Piccadilly fence. In that open-air mart, which operates on weekends, the artists sell their own works. Judged by the $43 price, my painting is not great art. But it has delightful swirls, angles, and other abstract forms, all in bright colors. And when Mr. Eves, the artist, told me the title—Forces at Work—I bought it immediately.

With a little metal plate bearing the title and the artist’s name, the painting is a constant reminder to me that any successful organization must give continuing attention to keeping adjusted to the forces affecting it—that is, to the forces-at-work element of its philosophy. But before discussing that element, let us examine...