Charlie Rose - An interview with Andrew Grove

Charlie Rose - An interview with Andrew Grove:


I'm often credited with the motto, "Only the paranoid survive." I have no idea when I first said this, but the fact remains that, when it comes to business, I believe in the value of paranoia.  Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction.  The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left.
  I believe that the prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management. The things I tend to be paranoid about vary.  I worry about products getting screwed up, and I worry about products getting introduced prematurely.  I worry about factories not performing well, and I worry about having too many factories.  I worry about hiring the right people, and I worry about morale slacking off. And, of course, I worry about competitors. I worry about other people figuring out how to do what we do better or cheaper, and displacing us with our customers. But these worries pale in comparison to how I feel about what I call strategic inflection points. I'll describe what a strategic inflection point is a bit later in this book. For now, let me just say that a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.  That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights.  But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end. Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change.  They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition.  They are scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient.  They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to.  Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness. But strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster.  When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way.  This can apply to newcomers or to incumbents, for whom a strategic inflection point may mean an opportunity for a new period of growth. You can be the subject of a strategic inflection point but you can also be the cause of one.  Intel, where I work, has been both.  In the mid-eighties, the Japanese memory producers brought upon us an inflection point so overwhelming that it forced us out of memory chips and into the relatively new field of microprocessors.  The microprocessor business that we have dedicated ourselves to has since gone on to cause the mother of all inflection points for other companies, bringing very difficult times to the classical mainframe computer industry.  Having both been affected by strategic inflection points and having caused them, I can safely say that the former is tougher. I've grown up in a technological industry.  Most of my experiences are rooted there.  I think in terms of technological concepts and metaphors, and a lot of my examples in this book come from what I know.  But strategic inflection points, while often brought about by the workings of technology, are not restricted to technological industries. The factUnder Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chipmaker, the fifth-most-admired company in America, and the seventh-most-profitable company among the Fortune 500. You don't achieve rankings like these unless you have mastered a rare understanding of the art of business and an unusual way with its practice. Few CEOs can claim this level of consistent record-breaking success. Grove attributes much of this success to the philosophy and strategy he reveals in Only the Paranoid Survive--a book that is unique in leadership annals for offering a bold new business measure, and for taking the reader deep inside the workings of a major corporation. Grove's contribution to business thinking concerns a new way of measuring the nightmare moment every leader dreads--the moment when massive change occurs and all bets are off. The success you had the day before is gone, destroyed by unforeseen changes that hit like a stage-six rapid. Grove calls such moments Strategic Inflection Points, and he has lived through several. When SlPs hit, all rules of business shift fast, furiously, and forever. SlPs can be set off by almost anything--megacompetition, an arcane change in regulations, or a seemingly modest change in technology. Yet in the watchful leader's hand, SlPs can be an ace. Managed right, a company can turn a SIP into a positive force to win in the marketplace and emerge stronger than ever. To achieve that level of mastery over change, you must know its properties inside and out. Grove addresses questions such as these: What are the stages of these tidal waves? What sources do you turn to in order to foresee dangers before trouble announces itself? When threats abound, how do you deal with your emotions, your calendar, your career--as well as with your most loyal managers and customers, who may cling to tradition? No stranger to risk, Grove examines his own record of success and failure, including the drama of how he navigated the events of the Pentium flaw, which threatened Intel in a major way, and how he is dealing with the SIP brought on by the Internet. The work of a lifetime of reflection, Only the Paranoid Survive is a contemporary classic of leadership skills."This terrific book is a dangerous book. It will make people think." --Peter Drucker "This books is about one super-important concept. You must  learn about Strategic Inflection Points, because sooner or later you are going to live through one." --Steve Jobs, Pixar Animation StudiosTime magazine's "Man of the Year" and cofounder of Intel, the world's largest computer-chip maker, discusses the meaning of this personal mantra "only the paranoid survive" and the difference it can make in a company's survival during times of radial change. A touch, savvy, contemporary classic of leadership skills.I'm often credited with the motto, "Only the paranoid survive." I have no idea when I first said this, but the fact remains that, when it comes to business, I believe in the value of paranoia.'160;'160;Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction.'160;'160;The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left.'160;'160;I believe that the prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management. The things I tend to be paranoid about vary.'160;'160;I worry about products getting screwed up, and I worry about products getting introduced prematurely.'160;'160;I worry about factories not performing well, and I worry about having too many factories.'160;'160;I worry about hiring the right people, and I worry about morale slacking off. And, of course, I worry about competitors. I worry about other people figuring out how to do what we do better or cheaper, and displacing us with our customers. But these worries pale in comparison to how I feel about what I call strategic inflection points. I'll describe what a strategic inflection point is a bit later in this book. For now, let me just say that a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.'160;'160;That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights.'160;'160;But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end. Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change.'160;'160;They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition.'160;'160;They are scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient.'160;'160;They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to.'160;'160;Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness. But strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster.'160;'160;When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way.'160;'160;This can apply to newcomers or to incumbents, for whom a strategic inflection point may mean an opportunity for a new period of growth. You can be the subject of a strategic inflection point but you can also be the cause of one.'160;'160;Intel, where I work, has been both.'160;'160;In the mid-eighties, the Japanese memory producers brought upon us an inflection point so overwhelming that it forced us out of memory chips and into the relatively new field of microprocessors.'160;'160;The microprocessor business that we have dedicated ourselves to has since gone on to cause the mother of all inflection points for other companies, bringing very difficult times to the classical mainframe computer industry.'160;'160;Having both been affected by strategic inflection points and having caused them, I can safely say that the former is tougher. I've grown up in a technological industry.'160;'160;Most of my experiences are rooted there.'160;'160;I think in terms of technological concepts and metaphors, and a lot of my examples in this book come from what I know.'160;'160;But strategic inflection points, while often brought about by the workings of technology, are not restricted to technological industries. The factI'm often credited with the motto, "Only the paranoid survive." I have no idea when I first said this, but the fact remains that, when it comes to business, I believe in the value of paranoia.Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction.The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left.I believe that the prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management. The things I tend to be paranoid about vary.I worry about products getting screwed up, and I worry about products getting introduced prematurely.I worry about factories not performing well, and I worry about having too many factories.I worry about hiring the right people, and I worry about morale slacking off. And, of course, I worry about competitors. I worry about other people figuring out how to do what we do better or cheaper, and displacing us with our customers. But these worries pale in comparison to how I feel about what I call strategic inflection points. I'll describe what a strategic inflection point is a bit later in this book. For now, let me just say that a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights.But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end. Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change.They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition.They are scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient.They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to.Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness. But strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster.When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way.This can apply to newcomers or to incumbents, for whom a strategic inflection point may mean an opportunity for a new period of growth. You can be the subject of a strategic inflection point but you can also be the cause of one.Intel, where I work, has been both.In the mid-eighties, the Japanese memory producers brought upon us an inflection point so overwhelming that it forced us out of memory chips and into the relatively new field of microprocessors.The microprocessor business that we have dedicated ourselves to has since gone on to cause the mother of all inflection points for other companies, bringing very difficult times to the classical mainframe computer industry.Having both been affected by strategic inflection points and having caused them, I can safely say that the former is tougher. I've grown up in a technological industry.Most of my experiences are rooted there.I think in terms of technological concepts and metaphors, and a lot of my examples in this book come from what I know.But strategic inflection points, while often brought about by the workings of technology, are not restricted to technological industries. The fact
 show less

List price:
Edition: N/A
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Binding: Trade Cloth
Pages: 224
Size: 6.46" wide x 9.57" long x 0.93" tall
Weight: 1.06 lbs.
Language: English




'via Blog this'