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Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge Every Company and Career
Under Andy Grove’s leadership, Intel became the world’s largest chip maker and one of the most admired companies in the world. In Only the Paranoid Survive, Grove reveals his strategy for measuring the nightmare moment every leader dreads–when massive change occurs and a company must, virtually overnight, adapt or fall by the wayside–in a new way.
Grove calls such a moment a Strategic Inflection Point, which can be set off by almost anything: mega-competition, a change in regulations, or a seemingly modest change in technology. When a Strategic Inflection Point hits, the ordinary rules of business go out the window. Yet, managed right, a Strategic Inflection Point can be an opportunity to win in the marketplace and emerge stronger than ever.
Grove underscores his message by examining his own record of success and failure, including how he navigated the events of the Pentium flaw, which threatened Intel’s reputation in 1994, and how he has dealt with the explosions in growth of the Internet. The work of a lifetime, Only the Paranoid Survive is a classic of managerial and leadership skills.
Grove calls such a moment a Strategic Inflection Point, which can be set off by almost anything: mega-competition, a change in regulations, or a seemingly modest change in technology. When a Strategic Inflection Point hits, the ordinary rules of business go out the window. Yet, managed right, a Strategic Inflection Point can be an opportunity to win in the marketplace and emerge stronger than ever.
Grove underscores his message by examining his own record of success and failure, including how he navigated the events of the Pentium flaw, which threatened Intel’s reputation in 1994, and how he has dealt with the explosions in growth of the Internet. The work of a lifetime, Only the Paranoid Survive is a classic of managerial and leadership skills.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1996
About the author
Andrew S. Grove
31 books365 followersAndrew Stephen ("Andy") Grove (born 2 September 1936), is a Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer, and author. He is a science pioneer in the semiconductor industry. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 and moved to the United States where he finished his education. He later became CEO of Intel Corporation and helped transform the company into the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors.
In 1968, As a result of his work at Intel, and from his books and professional articles, Grove had a considerable influence on the management of modern electronics manufacturing industries worldwide. He has been called the "guy who drove the growth phase" of Silicon Valley.Steve Jobs, when he was considering returning to be Apple's CEO, called Grove, who was someone he "idolized," for his personal advice. One source notes that by his accomplishments at Intel alone, he "merits a place alongside the great business leaders of the 20th century."
In 1968, As a result of his work at Intel, and from his books and professional articles, Grove had a considerable influence on the management of modern electronics manufacturing industries worldwide. He has been called the "guy who drove the growth phase" of Silicon Valley.Steve Jobs, when he was considering returning to be Apple's CEO, called Grove, who was someone he "idolized," for his personal advice. One source notes that by his accomplishments at Intel alone, he "merits a place alongside the great business leaders of the 20th century."
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January 3, 2014
I picked this book because it was referred by Ben Horowitz (http://bhorowitz.com/2011/04/15/peace...). Other reason being the book's interesting title which somehow conveyed to me that it must be a book about how Andy Grove was paranoid (in good sense) enough to make Intel an Awesome company.
But as soon as started the book I become disappointed because it's not the book I thought it to be. Its not about Andy Grove being tough CEO or his paranoid decisions. It's is just like any other common business book written by a High profile CEO.
Book is all about "Strategic Inflection Point" that in simple language means any BIG turn of events in your company (or your industry or technology) like Intel ditched Memory business - the business it started with - and moved to microprocessors business. Book doesn't give any practical tips or secret sauce to handle these big turn of events. Nothing at all. It's more like slog it through, brainstorm with your team, decisions can be tough, you need to take your team with you etc etc. But you would have read all those in 100s of blogs previously.
There are few interesting chunks in the book:
1. CxOs (or senior management team) are always 'last to know' guys. They get bad news very, very late. This is so true, I totally agree to this. Your middle management will filter the info/news before presenting it to you, and nearly all the times they will present data/story in a format so that they look smart, tough, intelligent and proactive. No one wants to tell the bad news.
Create a culture in your team/company so that people are open to you (or their supervisors) without any inhibition of being reprimanded/joked/ignored or given a look like it's above your pay grade dude. Create an open and transparent culture. Be open to healthy arguments, in fact encourage healthy arguments. This culture can't be created in days or months, it will take years but it'll be worth it.
2. People (even competent, highly intelligent, serious-minded people) can come to different set of conclusions about a given set of facts. For ex: IBM and Intel went two different ways on using X-Ray to define feature of a chip. So nothing is Right or Wrong. Iterate and Iterate as fast as you can. Fast iteration is better than slower qualitative iteration.
Another thing that i realized while reading this book is: Why am I reading this book? I am a wannabe entrepreneur and this book is about Billion Dollars Big Critical decisions. It, by no means, immediately benefit me. This 'might' be helpful for senior management guys but for everyone else: just give it a pass.
But as soon as started the book I become disappointed because it's not the book I thought it to be. Its not about Andy Grove being tough CEO or his paranoid decisions. It's is just like any other common business book written by a High profile CEO.
Book is all about "Strategic Inflection Point" that in simple language means any BIG turn of events in your company (or your industry or technology) like Intel ditched Memory business - the business it started with - and moved to microprocessors business. Book doesn't give any practical tips or secret sauce to handle these big turn of events. Nothing at all. It's more like slog it through, brainstorm with your team, decisions can be tough, you need to take your team with you etc etc. But you would have read all those in 100s of blogs previously.
There are few interesting chunks in the book:
1. CxOs (or senior management team) are always 'last to know' guys. They get bad news very, very late. This is so true, I totally agree to this. Your middle management will filter the info/news before presenting it to you, and nearly all the times they will present data/story in a format so that they look smart, tough, intelligent and proactive. No one wants to tell the bad news.
Create a culture in your team/company so that people are open to you (or their supervisors) without any inhibition of being reprimanded/joked/ignored or given a look like it's above your pay grade dude. Create an open and transparent culture. Be open to healthy arguments, in fact encourage healthy arguments. This culture can't be created in days or months, it will take years but it'll be worth it.
2. People (even competent, highly intelligent, serious-minded people) can come to different set of conclusions about a given set of facts. For ex: IBM and Intel went two different ways on using X-Ray to define feature of a chip. So nothing is Right or Wrong. Iterate and Iterate as fast as you can. Fast iteration is better than slower qualitative iteration.
Another thing that i realized while reading this book is: Why am I reading this book? I am a wannabe entrepreneur and this book is about Billion Dollars Big Critical decisions. It, by no means, immediately benefit me. This 'might' be helpful for senior management guys but for everyone else: just give it a pass.
March 22, 2016
Today Andy Grove died at the age of 79.
His book "Only the Paranoid Survive" talks about his key business philosophy. One should always be on the lookout for new trends or products that might displace or destroy yours. Under him, Intel was famous for cannibilizing their older chips, their cash cows, with the new ones. The competition just couldn't follow their relentless pace.
I recommend the book to everyone in management or business whether in high-tech or not.
His book "Only the Paranoid Survive" talks about his key business philosophy. One should always be on the lookout for new trends or products that might displace or destroy yours. Under him, Intel was famous for cannibilizing their older chips, their cash cows, with the new ones. The competition just couldn't follow their relentless pace.
I recommend the book to everyone in management or business whether in high-tech or not.
March 4, 2019
Inflection
The strategies and decisions, and luck, Intel embraced are remarkable and to cover them all in detail in a short book would have been impossible. The fundamental essence of this book is that the only constant we can expect in business is CHANGE. How do we anticipate it? How do we prepare for that point where we either change or die? The ones we sometimes see coming and the ones we don’t. That Inflection Point. Can we recognise or anticipate change or do we create processes that enable us to rapidly respond once the change is obvious?
For well-established market leaders that fail, this is typically why. History is littered with huge multi-national companies that failed to see the change and respond effectively - they don't exist anymore. Intel was nearly one of those companies but this book provides very interesting insight and the remarkable thinking that existed within Intel at the time to deal with the pivot necessary to save their business.
The book is written with the flow of a story, which helps it resonate well. It also reminds us that many decisions involve agonising analysis and reasoning, and are extremely personal. The book is full of Grove’s war stories which are really interesting and relevant as we lived through many of these events. A good point that I remember from the book is when Andrew Grove recollects his darkest moment 'when he realised that not only were the Japanese cheaper in manufacturing memory chips, but their quality levels were at levels that Intel didn’t even think possible'. Intel’s move away from memory to microprocessors was traumatic and the inflection “point” was not so much a point as a long drawn out and painful affair. The backdrop to that inflection point and other points, make this book a great learning experience.
I love the term and the concept Only the Paranoid Survive, which in business keeps us on our toes worrying about that change which is inevitably coming. This is a short easy read that I would recommend.
The strategies and decisions, and luck, Intel embraced are remarkable and to cover them all in detail in a short book would have been impossible. The fundamental essence of this book is that the only constant we can expect in business is CHANGE. How do we anticipate it? How do we prepare for that point where we either change or die? The ones we sometimes see coming and the ones we don’t. That Inflection Point. Can we recognise or anticipate change or do we create processes that enable us to rapidly respond once the change is obvious?
For well-established market leaders that fail, this is typically why. History is littered with huge multi-national companies that failed to see the change and respond effectively - they don't exist anymore. Intel was nearly one of those companies but this book provides very interesting insight and the remarkable thinking that existed within Intel at the time to deal with the pivot necessary to save their business.
The book is written with the flow of a story, which helps it resonate well. It also reminds us that many decisions involve agonising analysis and reasoning, and are extremely personal. The book is full of Grove’s war stories which are really interesting and relevant as we lived through many of these events. A good point that I remember from the book is when Andrew Grove recollects his darkest moment 'when he realised that not only were the Japanese cheaper in manufacturing memory chips, but their quality levels were at levels that Intel didn’t even think possible'. Intel’s move away from memory to microprocessors was traumatic and the inflection “point” was not so much a point as a long drawn out and painful affair. The backdrop to that inflection point and other points, make this book a great learning experience.
I love the term and the concept Only the Paranoid Survive, which in business keeps us on our toes worrying about that change which is inevitably coming. This is a short easy read that I would recommend.
April 21, 2023
An interesting business book on how disruption (or inflection points in Grove speak) can change the balance of power in industries. The examples could have been more detailed, but still very relevant today
A fundamental rule in technology is that whatever can be done will be done
Intel is in a rough patch nowadays but Grove sketches a compelling view on how it became successful in the 1980s and 1990s.
In a way it’s therefore very ironic how he, in this 1998 book, very accurately describes the transformation of computing, from vertical integrated mainframe player IBM to Intel dominated horizontal oriented industry ordening, but that Intel now is being disrupted massively by TSMC who applies the same horizontal model to chip manufacturing.
More thoughts and note to follow 💻 👾📈
A fundamental rule in technology is that whatever can be done will be done
Intel is in a rough patch nowadays but Grove sketches a compelling view on how it became successful in the 1980s and 1990s.
In a way it’s therefore very ironic how he, in this 1998 book, very accurately describes the transformation of computing, from vertical integrated mainframe player IBM to Intel dominated horizontal oriented industry ordening, but that Intel now is being disrupted massively by TSMC who applies the same horizontal model to chip manufacturing.
More thoughts and note to follow 💻 👾📈
Read
March 6, 2015Only The Paranoid Survive
Key Quotes:
"The replacement of corporate heads is far more motivated by the need to bring in someone who is not invested in the past than to get somebody who is a better leader or better manager in other ways."
---Andy Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive (p127)
Strategic change doesn't just start at the top, it starts with your calendar. ---(p146)
"Put all of your eggs in one basket, then WATCH THAT BASKET"
--- Mark Twain
Ask yourself:
'Will going to this meeting teach me about the new technology or the new market that I think is very important now?'
'Will it introduce me to people who can help me in the new direction?'
'Will it send a message about the importance of the new direction?'
If so, go to it. If not, resist it.
--- (p154)
[Great leadership during change starts by letting chaos reign (debate), then, when the time is right, reign in the chaos (determined march)] This dynamic dialectic is a must.
--- (p161)
The best part of Andy Grove's book might be the title: "Only the Paranoid Survive". Large organizations often fail, because they don't adapt fast enough. There are two types of forces that organizations run into. 1x forces, which fall within the normal action/reaction that people and organizations are easily able to adjust to. However, there are also 10x forces that fundamentally change the rules, and most people and most organizations fail to adapt to these more fundamental changes quickly enough.
For example, think of these changes as waves in the ocean. The wave may come from any direction, but all are manageable. However, occasionally there is a tidal wave --- which you can detect and respond properly to, but that response is fundamentally different than the way you respond to a normal 1x wave.
In Intel's case, they faced 10x forces twice.
1. Intel started in the RAM business. Japanese factories caught up with them. The Japanese had lower cost structures and higher volumes, and government support - they sucked all of the profit out of the RAM business and ultimately took Intel's market share. Intel managed the transition by moving from a RAM company to a CPU company.
2. Customers boycotting Intel CPUs. Intel never thought of end-customers as their customers, because they didn't sell direct to the end customers. However, they started branding their CPUs and asked manufacturers to put an "Intel Inside" logo on computers that used Intel CPUs. When they ran into small manufacturing problems and didn't take massive steps to correct those problems, their end consumers felt that Intel was taking advantage of them, and therefore started boycotting their chips. Intel took massive losses, but eventually recognized they needed to service both end-consumers and their normal manufacturer customers.
According to Andy, there are 6 areas where theses 1x and 10x forces can start:
1: Competition: Ex. Your a mom & pop shop when wall-mart comes to town
2: Technology: Ex. Sound takes over silent films, Containers overtake shipping of loose items, PC revolution
3: Customers: Changing taste in Ford/GM cars. Attitude shifts. Super-computers.
4: Suppliers: Airlines vs Travel Agents. "Second Sourcing" in the tech component business.
5: Complementors:
6: Regulation: Patent Medicines, Telecommunication, Privatization, EPA
Finally, Grove cautions us to always remain aware. Your business will fundamentally be hit by 10x changes. It's just a question of WHEN, and HOW YOU RESPOND to those changes. The earlier and more accurately you identify 10x changes, the more freedom you have to choose your response, because your original business will provide the resources to jump-start the new business. As you go through the transition, you should "let go" of the system, and learn from the people below you - Andy says "To Let Chaos Reign". But once you have all the information you need to properly identify the new business (typically including completed marketing, completed testing) then you must take control, "Reign in the Chaos", and quickly complete the transition to the new business model.
Key Quotes:
"The replacement of corporate heads is far more motivated by the need to bring in someone who is not invested in the past than to get somebody who is a better leader or better manager in other ways."
---Andy Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive (p127)
Strategic change doesn't just start at the top, it starts with your calendar. ---(p146)
"Put all of your eggs in one basket, then WATCH THAT BASKET"
--- Mark Twain
Ask yourself:
'Will going to this meeting teach me about the new technology or the new market that I think is very important now?'
'Will it introduce me to people who can help me in the new direction?'
'Will it send a message about the importance of the new direction?'
If so, go to it. If not, resist it.
--- (p154)
[Great leadership during change starts by letting chaos reign (debate), then, when the time is right, reign in the chaos (determined march)] This dynamic dialectic is a must.
--- (p161)
The best part of Andy Grove's book might be the title: "Only the Paranoid Survive". Large organizations often fail, because they don't adapt fast enough. There are two types of forces that organizations run into. 1x forces, which fall within the normal action/reaction that people and organizations are easily able to adjust to. However, there are also 10x forces that fundamentally change the rules, and most people and most organizations fail to adapt to these more fundamental changes quickly enough.
For example, think of these changes as waves in the ocean. The wave may come from any direction, but all are manageable. However, occasionally there is a tidal wave --- which you can detect and respond properly to, but that response is fundamentally different than the way you respond to a normal 1x wave.
In Intel's case, they faced 10x forces twice.
1. Intel started in the RAM business. Japanese factories caught up with them. The Japanese had lower cost structures and higher volumes, and government support - they sucked all of the profit out of the RAM business and ultimately took Intel's market share. Intel managed the transition by moving from a RAM company to a CPU company.
2. Customers boycotting Intel CPUs. Intel never thought of end-customers as their customers, because they didn't sell direct to the end customers. However, they started branding their CPUs and asked manufacturers to put an "Intel Inside" logo on computers that used Intel CPUs. When they ran into small manufacturing problems and didn't take massive steps to correct those problems, their end consumers felt that Intel was taking advantage of them, and therefore started boycotting their chips. Intel took massive losses, but eventually recognized they needed to service both end-consumers and their normal manufacturer customers.
According to Andy, there are 6 areas where theses 1x and 10x forces can start:
1: Competition: Ex. Your a mom & pop shop when wall-mart comes to town
2: Technology: Ex. Sound takes over silent films, Containers overtake shipping of loose items, PC revolution
3: Customers: Changing taste in Ford/GM cars. Attitude shifts. Super-computers.
4: Suppliers: Airlines vs Travel Agents. "Second Sourcing" in the tech component business.
5: Complementors:
6: Regulation: Patent Medicines, Telecommunication, Privatization, EPA
Finally, Grove cautions us to always remain aware. Your business will fundamentally be hit by 10x changes. It's just a question of WHEN, and HOW YOU RESPOND to those changes. The earlier and more accurately you identify 10x changes, the more freedom you have to choose your response, because your original business will provide the resources to jump-start the new business. As you go through the transition, you should "let go" of the system, and learn from the people below you - Andy says "To Let Chaos Reign". But once you have all the information you need to properly identify the new business (typically including completed marketing, completed testing) then you must take control, "Reign in the Chaos", and quickly complete the transition to the new business model.
September 5, 2020
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January 29, 2011
This book discusses some really important ideas, primarily the "10x forces" that fundamentally change businesses and the "strategic inflection points" during which an industry is transformed by these "10x forces" (yes, he quotes that term everywhere it appears in the book). Grove explores these ideas using his experience as CEO during Intel's switch from making memories to making microprocessors in the late 80's as the primary example, but he emphasizes that these ideas are not unique to the tech industry and also explores SIPs in other industries ranging from sound in the movie industry to Wal-Mart in retail. After explaining these concepts and pointing to that range of examples, the author spends most of the book discussing how to manage companies during these crises: how to know that you're in the middle of a SIP, how to separate signal from noise during that confusing period, and the importance of fostering healthy debate but subsequently projecting decisive leadership.
The material covered in this book is important for anyone in business, and I mostly agreed with the author's high-level ideas but I was disappointed by the book itself. The case study of Intel was fascinating, especially hearing it told from the man in charge at the time. But much of the advice was either obvious or overly simplistic. For an obvious example, take the idea of listening to what your sales people and individual contributors on the ground are telling you about how their jobs are changing. This seems like something managers should *always* be doing. It could be one of those things that sounds obvious when you say it but isn't something you think about when you're in that position. Or maybe I'm unusually aware of these ideas because the book is 15 years old now or because I've been lucky to work for engineering-driven companies that were well aware of these ideas (and socialized them). Quite likely the approach just didn't resonate with me because the book is targeted at middle and senior managers, not individual contributors.
The "Reign in Chaos" chapter that describes setting strong direction after a period of open debate had some particularly condescending passages. On page 145 Grove counsels managers that "admitting that you need to learn something new is always difficult. It is even harder if you are a senior manager who is accustomed to the automatic deference which people accord you owning to your position. But if you don't fight it, that very deference may become a wall that isolates you from learning new things. It all takes self-discipline." That's right, it's tough as a senior manager to avoid completely ignoring the ideas of your subordinates, but you can do it with a little bit of self-discipline. Next time one of your reports has something to say and you just want to send them back to the salt mine, consider listening instead.
On page 163 there's the story of a "very competent" senior manager at Intel who had some great ideas but according to Grove just went about them poorly. He "organized a committee...to investigate an issue and come up with a recommendation. It turned out that this manager knew all along what he wanted to do, but instead of giving that direction to the committee, which he could have, he was hoping to engineer a bottom-up decision to the same effect. When the committee came up with the opposite recommendation, he felt cornered. At this late stage, he tried to dictate his solution to people who by now had spent months struggling with an issue and had firmed up their minds. It just couldn't be done. Coming as it did at this late stage, his dictate seemed utterly arbitrary." Yes, telling a committee of your reports that the results of their lengthy discussions are all wrong and you're going to do the opposite because you think it's better just _seems_ arbitrary. And I guess the lesson to managers is: don't ask your reports to think about what to do because they'll just come up with the wrong answer and be angry when you set them straight.
Despite these parts and the overall lackluster presentation, these ideas _are_ pretty important and the author's obviously considered them a lot. One last thing: the book's a bit old now (written in 1996) and predates things like the Internet's explosive growth, but to the author's credit in several cases he accurately forecast industry-transforming changes including the Internet's disruption of the travel booking industry and the difficulty that faces music, movie, and software companies in a world where people can download media through the Internet. The last chapter covers "The Internet" entirely and basically asks: "fad or the biggest innovation of the century" -- he comes down on the right side, but with our hindsight it makes for some interesting reading.
The material covered in this book is important for anyone in business, and I mostly agreed with the author's high-level ideas but I was disappointed by the book itself. The case study of Intel was fascinating, especially hearing it told from the man in charge at the time. But much of the advice was either obvious or overly simplistic. For an obvious example, take the idea of listening to what your sales people and individual contributors on the ground are telling you about how their jobs are changing. This seems like something managers should *always* be doing. It could be one of those things that sounds obvious when you say it but isn't something you think about when you're in that position. Or maybe I'm unusually aware of these ideas because the book is 15 years old now or because I've been lucky to work for engineering-driven companies that were well aware of these ideas (and socialized them). Quite likely the approach just didn't resonate with me because the book is targeted at middle and senior managers, not individual contributors.
The "Reign in Chaos" chapter that describes setting strong direction after a period of open debate had some particularly condescending passages. On page 145 Grove counsels managers that "admitting that you need to learn something new is always difficult. It is even harder if you are a senior manager who is accustomed to the automatic deference which people accord you owning to your position. But if you don't fight it, that very deference may become a wall that isolates you from learning new things. It all takes self-discipline." That's right, it's tough as a senior manager to avoid completely ignoring the ideas of your subordinates, but you can do it with a little bit of self-discipline. Next time one of your reports has something to say and you just want to send them back to the salt mine, consider listening instead.
On page 163 there's the story of a "very competent" senior manager at Intel who had some great ideas but according to Grove just went about them poorly. He "organized a committee...to investigate an issue and come up with a recommendation. It turned out that this manager knew all along what he wanted to do, but instead of giving that direction to the committee, which he could have, he was hoping to engineer a bottom-up decision to the same effect. When the committee came up with the opposite recommendation, he felt cornered. At this late stage, he tried to dictate his solution to people who by now had spent months struggling with an issue and had firmed up their minds. It just couldn't be done. Coming as it did at this late stage, his dictate seemed utterly arbitrary." Yes, telling a committee of your reports that the results of their lengthy discussions are all wrong and you're going to do the opposite because you think it's better just _seems_ arbitrary. And I guess the lesson to managers is: don't ask your reports to think about what to do because they'll just come up with the wrong answer and be angry when you set them straight.
Despite these parts and the overall lackluster presentation, these ideas _are_ pretty important and the author's obviously considered them a lot. One last thing: the book's a bit old now (written in 1996) and predates things like the Internet's explosive growth, but to the author's credit in several cases he accurately forecast industry-transforming changes including the Internet's disruption of the travel booking industry and the difficulty that faces music, movie, and software companies in a world where people can download media through the Internet. The last chapter covers "The Internet" entirely and basically asks: "fad or the biggest innovation of the century" -- he comes down on the right side, but with our hindsight it makes for some interesting reading.
August 31, 2022
Absolutely the right combination of deep industry expertise and accomplishment, mixed with a truly fresh and valuable perspective on things.
I’ve heard this book bandied about by people I respect for a while, I never got around to reading it until now. Absolutely worth it. Tremendous example of mentally shifting from sort of a maintenance “peacetime“ CEO role, to a “wartime“ CEO dealing with white Grove calls “inflection points.”
I’ve heard this book bandied about by people I respect for a while, I never got around to reading it until now. Absolutely worth it. Tremendous example of mentally shifting from sort of a maintenance “peacetime“ CEO role, to a “wartime“ CEO dealing with white Grove calls “inflection points.”
January 13, 2019
Andy Grove, then CEO of Intel Corp, is clearly worth listening to on the subject of management. The "Wintel" success story is well known. More harrowing was Intel's earlier self-transformation from making memory chips to making microprocessors.
How to steer an enterprise thru a major change in its business, per Mr. Grove:
1) Figure out if a major change is imminent. If so, you're about to enter what Grove calls "the valley of death".
2) Figure out how to deal with it. Largely (for CEOs), this involves listening to your employees & doing your homework.
3) Set a new course, sell it to your company, and stick to it.
The "secret" to success here is identifying the oncoming crisis early & reacting sensibly. He relates the story of Apple, a company with clearly superior products - the Mac operating system, the first good laser printer - completely missing the shift from proprietary to open PC standards, and ending up as a niche player. John Sculley, then Apple's CEO, acknowledged this crucial mistake years later. Groves thinks Sculley knew this shift was happening , but wasn't able to overcome Apple's "inertia of success". Curiously, this was pretty much the same problem IBM had when PCs began displacing mainframes. It's very hard for an organization to give up a strategy that has been richly rewarded in the past.
In management, as in engineering, we often learn more from failures than successes. Grove's case histories will make informative reading for anyone in business. Not many of us are CEOs, but we'll all go thru Grove's "strategic inflection points" in our careers.
[Review written 1998]
How to steer an enterprise thru a major change in its business, per Mr. Grove:
1) Figure out if a major change is imminent. If so, you're about to enter what Grove calls "the valley of death".
2) Figure out how to deal with it. Largely (for CEOs), this involves listening to your employees & doing your homework.
3) Set a new course, sell it to your company, and stick to it.
The "secret" to success here is identifying the oncoming crisis early & reacting sensibly. He relates the story of Apple, a company with clearly superior products - the Mac operating system, the first good laser printer - completely missing the shift from proprietary to open PC standards, and ending up as a niche player. John Sculley, then Apple's CEO, acknowledged this crucial mistake years later. Groves thinks Sculley knew this shift was happening , but wasn't able to overcome Apple's "inertia of success". Curiously, this was pretty much the same problem IBM had when PCs began displacing mainframes. It's very hard for an organization to give up a strategy that has been richly rewarded in the past.
In management, as in engineering, we often learn more from failures than successes. Grove's case histories will make informative reading for anyone in business. Not many of us are CEOs, but we'll all go thru Grove's "strategic inflection points" in our careers.
[Review written 1998]
October 14, 2017
خیلی وقت بود می خواستم این کتاب رو بخونم ولی فرصت اش پیش نمی یومد، ولی حالا که خوندنش رو تموم کردم با خودم می گم ای کاش زودتر می خوندم این کتاب رو که نوشته اندرو گرو مدیرعامل و رئیس هیئت مدیره پیشین اینتل هست، پیتر دراکر هم درباره این کتاب گفته: «این اثر برجسته کتابی خطرناک می باشد که انسان را ناچار به اندیشیدن می نماید!»، از موضوعات محوری و مهم این کتاب نقطه های چرخش راهبردی هست، که به نظر باید همه در این زمینه یاد بگیریم چون بدون شک در زندگی باهاش بارها مواجه خواهیم شد، در مورد تصمیم گیری در زمانی که درگیر نیروی دگرگون ساز ۱۰ برابر شده ایم، یا بهتر چطوری این نیروها را پیش بینی کنیم و خودمون رو براشون آماده کنیم، چطوری سازمان را به سمت درست هدایت کنیم و چطوری تصمیمات به موقع و درستی بگیریم، به نظرم خوندن این کتاب خوب رو از دست ندید.
November 9, 2023
An excellent read, even 25 years after first published. The lesson about inflection pointy remains as relevant, if not even more, to today's fast paced companies. Also relevant to one's career nowadays.
If you are a founder, or someone who works in tech/start up, this book is a must read.
If you are a founder, or someone who works in tech/start up, this book is a must read.
December 31, 2020
In the business books category, this one ranks high. Grove asks a fundamental question - how do companies die or survive a strategic inflection point? Translation: how do they survive when a "10x" change hits their business and there are only two trajectories: exponential growth or rapid decline to zero.
There are never clear answers to any such questions. But there are processes. One must constantly ask whether changes that are happening are "10x changes" or standard business procedure. Is it noise, or a signal? Constant communication in between employees is crucial as well: generally the top management is the last to realize that changes are anew, since they are not the ones on the "battleground". That point may have changed since the 90s as data exchange was not as fluent back then. Nonetheless, employees who talk to customers on a daily basis have the type of information that top management will never have.
Once a 10x change is detected, action must be clear and instant. Grove highlights how oftentimes managers who are at strategic inflection points spend their time going to conferences, writing books, doing charity. In other words, doing all types of other things so that they would not have to deal with the most difficult task they will face during their time as CEO.
I can't help but delve into current affairs as well. Ever since Covid-19 started spreading in the Western world, I have been thinking about the title of this book quite often. Had world leaders and people in general been a bit more paranoid, some carnage would have been circumvented.
There are never clear answers to any such questions. But there are processes. One must constantly ask whether changes that are happening are "10x changes" or standard business procedure. Is it noise, or a signal? Constant communication in between employees is crucial as well: generally the top management is the last to realize that changes are anew, since they are not the ones on the "battleground". That point may have changed since the 90s as data exchange was not as fluent back then. Nonetheless, employees who talk to customers on a daily basis have the type of information that top management will never have.
Once a 10x change is detected, action must be clear and instant. Grove highlights how oftentimes managers who are at strategic inflection points spend their time going to conferences, writing books, doing charity. In other words, doing all types of other things so that they would not have to deal with the most difficult task they will face during their time as CEO.
I can't help but delve into current affairs as well. Ever since Covid-19 started spreading in the Western world, I have been thinking about the title of this book quite often. Had world leaders and people in general been a bit more paranoid, some carnage would have been circumvented.
April 7, 2023
Andy Grove really doesn't grok bullshit. Unlike other business books, this one is short and to the point. His central thesis is that business and industries undergo strategic inflection points, changes that transform the landscape and destroy the old gods unless they adapt. The preferred phrase now to refer to such changes is disruption. Grove then proceeds to examine the computer industry from within that framework, and one outside, that of Walmart. Disruption, 10x changes, strategic inflection points and such are common wisdom now. While one cannot read this book with the eyes of a beginner, it has aged well. This is especially true when he applies similar lens to individual career, a theme he has visited in his other books. This attitude, that one is responsible for one's career and one must constantly prepare for the next job, like an athlete does for his race, is really the central philosophy of leetcoders and blinders. The title is particularly relevant this year. In an age of mass layoffs in the tech industry, it is as good a personal motto as any.
It's ironic that Intel after Grove missed the strategic inflection points that have hollowed it out considerably: pure play foundries like TSMC and mobile devices. Organizational paranoia, it seems, needs a strong man at the top to sustain.
It's ironic that Intel after Grove missed the strategic inflection points that have hollowed it out considerably: pure play foundries like TSMC and mobile devices. Organizational paranoia, it seems, needs a strong man at the top to sustain.
August 14, 2017
2.5/5 (I was thinking to give it 2.2. But since the book dates back at 1998 & I see some of Grove's prediction has come true by this time, I think 2.5 is enough)
My favorite moment from the book is when Gordon Moore & Grove decides to get rid of the memory business at Intel in the face of an inflection point by Japanese manufacturers. This reminds me, most often we hold the key to put a stop to our misery but we barely notice that. I appreciate Grove's approach to introduce various inflection points in the business from his experience at Intel. But the book is not so well written. Grove surely knows what he has to offer but couldn't match that expectation with his writing. The details of the examples are inadequate & still too short to be sufficient. Many characters are kept anonymous & criticisms are blunt. I guess he took safe side. May be he didn't want to piss off many people. Recently, I finished Steve Jobs' biography & I see he's not that open to Steve's support for vertical platform. And I see he's praising Sculley. :3
Okay, I feel if this book have any new edition, Steve Jobs must have his rightful distinguished place since he revolutionized Apple after his return at 1997.
My favorite moment from the book is when Gordon Moore & Grove decides to get rid of the memory business at Intel in the face of an inflection point by Japanese manufacturers. This reminds me, most often we hold the key to put a stop to our misery but we barely notice that. I appreciate Grove's approach to introduce various inflection points in the business from his experience at Intel. But the book is not so well written. Grove surely knows what he has to offer but couldn't match that expectation with his writing. The details of the examples are inadequate & still too short to be sufficient. Many characters are kept anonymous & criticisms are blunt. I guess he took safe side. May be he didn't want to piss off many people. Recently, I finished Steve Jobs' biography & I see he's not that open to Steve's support for vertical platform. And I see he's praising Sculley. :3
Okay, I feel if this book have any new edition, Steve Jobs must have his rightful distinguished place since he revolutionized Apple after his return at 1997.
October 11, 2014
I had heard so much about this book being a classic, and I finally read it.
Whats lovely is that it was written in 1996, and he lays out the principles of how to prepare for, deal with and manage change - especially when it comes to a change in how the business works...
When industries/ structures/ networks change - it can ruin organisations or catapult them to dominant positions. It is also a signal to either scale up in that direction or retreat completely out of the current one.
It's also a brilliant reason why value investors hate businesses that are prone to significant changes - because then, one has to rely on management prowess to be able to change, and that tends to be unpredictable.
Brilliant book. Last 2 chapters got boring, but some stories and examples are brilliant.
Whats lovely is that it was written in 1996, and he lays out the principles of how to prepare for, deal with and manage change - especially when it comes to a change in how the business works...
When industries/ structures/ networks change - it can ruin organisations or catapult them to dominant positions. It is also a signal to either scale up in that direction or retreat completely out of the current one.
It's also a brilliant reason why value investors hate businesses that are prone to significant changes - because then, one has to rely on management prowess to be able to change, and that tends to be unpredictable.
Brilliant book. Last 2 chapters got boring, but some stories and examples are brilliant.
July 28, 2016
A absolute must read for every serious entrepreneur. I wish to become as good leader and entrepreneur as he was.
This book does not only touch a very interesting topic that mean life or death for enterprises, but adding the fact that the book was written in the nineties - it's very interesting to see a world class CEOs view on the potential changes Internet will bring - from our perspective in the year 2016.
This book does not only touch a very interesting topic that mean life or death for enterprises, but adding the fact that the book was written in the nineties - it's very interesting to see a world class CEOs view on the potential changes Internet will bring - from our perspective in the year 2016.
December 10, 2019
Disappointing read. Was a rather short book that can be finished over a weekend. Puts forth a few neat-sounding concepts (i.e. x10 force, inflection point) that in fact, do not offer much insights. Anecdotes offered are also often superficial. This was exacerbated by the fact that Grove is a management legend and as readers, we expect a lot more from someone with his track record.
April 17, 2015
Surprisingly readable book about what it's like to be at a company at the moment when it has to either change the way it operates or go into a decline.
That said, I wish I were not the kind of person who now reads business books for fun.
That said, I wish I were not the kind of person who now reads business books for fun.
February 6, 2017
I've written about it here: https://bmajewski.wordpress.com/2016/....
Shortly speaking i liked it a lot. It's not as great as Grove's previous work - high output management.
Shortly speaking i liked it a lot. It's not as great as Grove's previous work - high output management.
May 17, 2022
Quite an old book by Venture Capital & Electronics Industry standards, but its easy to see how Grove was pretty far ahead of the curve (10X thinking/Inflection Points/CXO culture) compared to prevailing management theory.
December 7, 2016
A great read on one of the best companies built in the 20th century. Every person in technology should read this book and see how it is difficult to create great companies
January 3, 2019
This is a quick read, although I can't say it's all that useful. Grove starts with Porter's Five Forces as a framework for business analysis, and then considers situations in which one of the forces increases by tenfold. The principles he outlays for such a situation are described as such:
"One, don’t differentiate without a difference. Don’t introduce improvements whose only purpose is to give you an advantage over your competitor without giving your customer a substantial advantage.
Two, in this hypercompetitive horizontal world, opportunity knocks when a technology break or other fundamental change comes your way. Grab it. The first mover and only the first mover, the company that acts while the others dither, has a true opportunity to gain time over its competitors—and time advantage, in this business, is the surest way to gain market share.
Three, price for what the market will bear, price for volume, then work like the devil on your costs so that you can make money at that price. This will lead you to achieve economies of scale in which the large investments that are necessary can be effective and productive and will make sense because, by being a large-volume supplier, you can spread and recoup those costs. By contrast, cost-based pricing will often lead you into a niche position, which in a mass-production-based industry is not very lucrative."
As CEO of Intel, Grove reflects on a time in which the Pentium processor received significant negative press. He describes the ways that he addressed the situation as the leader of a large organization. He emphasizes the importance of listening to middle management, as those are the people who are closest to seeing the trends develop with customers and markets. He focuses on keeping emotions of senior management under control to properly grasp the changing environment:
"Senior managers got to where they are by having been good at what they do. And over time they have learned to lead with their strengths. So it’s not surprising that they will keep implementing the same strategic and tactical moves that worked for them during the course of their careers—especially during their “championship season.” I call this phenomenon the inertia of success. It is extremely dangerous and it can reinforce denial."
"Admitting that you need to learn something new is always difficult. It is even harder if you are a senior manager who is accustomed to the automatic deference which people accord you owing to your position. But if you don’t fight it, that very deference may become a wall that isolates you from learning new things. It all takes self-discipline."
Moreover, it's not merely a question of understanding that a shift in the industry is occurring, it also requires a leader with the charisma to lead based on his vision:
"I was stunned when I heard this. Listening to Sculley gave me the impression that he understood the implications of the horizontal industry structure. It appeared that he just wasn’t strong enough to overpower Apple’s inertia of success that existed because of its fifteen-year history as a fully vertical computer company."
Overall, while this book is a short read, I can't say that it's particularly insightful or persuasive in terms of management advice. I have a lot of respect for Andrew Grove, but much of this book amounts to the typical business book conjecture, with assertions that lack significant evidence outside of anecdotes.
"One, don’t differentiate without a difference. Don’t introduce improvements whose only purpose is to give you an advantage over your competitor without giving your customer a substantial advantage.
Two, in this hypercompetitive horizontal world, opportunity knocks when a technology break or other fundamental change comes your way. Grab it. The first mover and only the first mover, the company that acts while the others dither, has a true opportunity to gain time over its competitors—and time advantage, in this business, is the surest way to gain market share.
Three, price for what the market will bear, price for volume, then work like the devil on your costs so that you can make money at that price. This will lead you to achieve economies of scale in which the large investments that are necessary can be effective and productive and will make sense because, by being a large-volume supplier, you can spread and recoup those costs. By contrast, cost-based pricing will often lead you into a niche position, which in a mass-production-based industry is not very lucrative."
As CEO of Intel, Grove reflects on a time in which the Pentium processor received significant negative press. He describes the ways that he addressed the situation as the leader of a large organization. He emphasizes the importance of listening to middle management, as those are the people who are closest to seeing the trends develop with customers and markets. He focuses on keeping emotions of senior management under control to properly grasp the changing environment:
"Senior managers got to where they are by having been good at what they do. And over time they have learned to lead with their strengths. So it’s not surprising that they will keep implementing the same strategic and tactical moves that worked for them during the course of their careers—especially during their “championship season.” I call this phenomenon the inertia of success. It is extremely dangerous and it can reinforce denial."
"Admitting that you need to learn something new is always difficult. It is even harder if you are a senior manager who is accustomed to the automatic deference which people accord you owing to your position. But if you don’t fight it, that very deference may become a wall that isolates you from learning new things. It all takes self-discipline."
Moreover, it's not merely a question of understanding that a shift in the industry is occurring, it also requires a leader with the charisma to lead based on his vision:
"I was stunned when I heard this. Listening to Sculley gave me the impression that he understood the implications of the horizontal industry structure. It appeared that he just wasn’t strong enough to overpower Apple’s inertia of success that existed because of its fifteen-year history as a fully vertical computer company."
Overall, while this book is a short read, I can't say that it's particularly insightful or persuasive in terms of management advice. I have a lot of respect for Andrew Grove, but much of this book amounts to the typical business book conjecture, with assertions that lack significant evidence outside of anecdotes.
October 30, 2023
This book is all about learning to identify and act on Strategic inflection points happening in your business or your career. It’s nice that he writes about his experience as CEO of Intel in a period when a Strategic inflection point occured. Thus, it’s a very practical book. These are my takeaways.
1. Be close to the first lines and be open to hear “Casandras” telling you about strategic inflection points. It is up to you however to distinguish between noise and reality
2. I liked the way he uses Porter’s framework to identify strategic inflection points
3. Chapter 5 is a great chapter. Explaining how they got out of Memories and how difficult it was to make and execute this obvios decision because of being an insider
4. If you think you are living an inflection point, go all in, don’t hesitate or defer the decision. Try not to be emotional.
5. If you make a decision, commit and focus, don’t hedge as it will give you breadth but not depth.
6. We won’t harness the opportunity just by letting things happen to us
7. At the end you can have all the frameworks you want, but you will have to use your gut to decide whether something is noise or reality.
1. Be close to the first lines and be open to hear “Casandras” telling you about strategic inflection points. It is up to you however to distinguish between noise and reality
2. I liked the way he uses Porter’s framework to identify strategic inflection points
3. Chapter 5 is a great chapter. Explaining how they got out of Memories and how difficult it was to make and execute this obvios decision because of being an insider
4. If you think you are living an inflection point, go all in, don’t hesitate or defer the decision. Try not to be emotional.
5. If you make a decision, commit and focus, don’t hedge as it will give you breadth but not depth.
6. We won’t harness the opportunity just by letting things happen to us
7. At the end you can have all the frameworks you want, but you will have to use your gut to decide whether something is noise or reality.
September 19, 2021
This is one of the most recommended books by the leaders of Silicon Valley companies. I think that's because 20 years ago, this was fresh insights from a current leader. It's a bit dated now, but the fundamentals are still strong.
Generally, I enjoyed this a lot, but I took a star off for his fundamental thesis--that fear is good. He explicitly talks about stoking your fear to keep it strong, even cultivating in your employees. I do understand that it fear will stimulate a lot of hard work, but I also know that it limits creativity and burns people out. It's not a long-term solution (and it's not a healthy way of living).
The rest of the stuff is great, though. Defining what an inflection point is (when things have turned the corner in an industry so a new strategy is required) and his principles on how to deal with those seasons of change was great. For example, the change is noticed first by the periphery of the organization, not the center (the top leaders). So listen to their concerns and take them seriously.
Generally, I enjoyed this a lot, but I took a star off for his fundamental thesis--that fear is good. He explicitly talks about stoking your fear to keep it strong, even cultivating in your employees. I do understand that it fear will stimulate a lot of hard work, but I also know that it limits creativity and burns people out. It's not a long-term solution (and it's not a healthy way of living).
The rest of the stuff is great, though. Defining what an inflection point is (when things have turned the corner in an industry so a new strategy is required) and his principles on how to deal with those seasons of change was great. For example, the change is noticed first by the periphery of the organization, not the center (the top leaders). So listen to their concerns and take them seriously.
June 30, 2020
Brilliantly written.
While the businesses of the day talk about real-time data crunching, lead and lag indicators in depth.
Here's a leader's guide to mending your business instincts, picking up patterns that even the most meticulously collated data might fail to capture.
Right from the horse's mouth, the legendary CEO narrates several "been there done that" experiences from the decades that define the birth of modern computers. Connecting with the pure genius of Drucker and Porter this book is just one among the most valuable "MUST read" for entrepreneurs and executives in the making.
Anyone can sail the still waters of good times, it requires a master and watchful leader to navigate the turbulent waves of deep seas. This equips one approach for such deep waters.
While the businesses of the day talk about real-time data crunching, lead and lag indicators in depth.
Here's a leader's guide to mending your business instincts, picking up patterns that even the most meticulously collated data might fail to capture.
Right from the horse's mouth, the legendary CEO narrates several "been there done that" experiences from the decades that define the birth of modern computers. Connecting with the pure genius of Drucker and Porter this book is just one among the most valuable "MUST read" for entrepreneurs and executives in the making.
Anyone can sail the still waters of good times, it requires a master and watchful leader to navigate the turbulent waves of deep seas. This equips one approach for such deep waters.
May 7, 2022
The book introduces the concept of strategic inflection point, a moment in time in the existence of a company when things around it are rapidly changing and without decisive action, it might wither into irrelevance.
Intel went through one when it's memory business was challenged by low cost, high quality memory units from Japanese competitors. Intel found it's path, albeit painfully and pivoted to microcontroller business - and rest is history.
The book is a bit dated, especially with the examples of companies Andy holds up. Hewlett Packard, Compaq and others are not the hottest, most successful companies anymore but if you're a student of history you'll get a lot of out of this book.
I enjoyed learning about Intel's history as well as the last section of personal inflection points wrt ones career.
This book is a classic for a reason and one you should read
Intel went through one when it's memory business was challenged by low cost, high quality memory units from Japanese competitors. Intel found it's path, albeit painfully and pivoted to microcontroller business - and rest is history.
The book is a bit dated, especially with the examples of companies Andy holds up. Hewlett Packard, Compaq and others are not the hottest, most successful companies anymore but if you're a student of history you'll get a lot of out of this book.
I enjoyed learning about Intel's history as well as the last section of personal inflection points wrt ones career.
This book is a classic for a reason and one you should read
March 25, 2019
For being a book that is over 30 years old I thoroughly enjoyed the wisdom of this author. His theory of "inflection points" and how to navigate them or know you are in one is amazing. Plus, he uses the term "10X" a lot in this book and I wonder if he was the original person to coin the term. I know Grant Cardone, another great author, uses it more than anyone else and even wrote a book with the "10X" in the title. I can see why Intel is still a powerful company on this planet and this author was instrumental in taking Intel into the business capacity they are at now. I have read many books by CEO's and this is definitely on the top of the list.
December 30, 2022
I really can’t be mad this book sucked it was the first miss in awhile.
3 things.
#1 this book is just the same chapter 10 times
#2 I didn’t like his style of writing and felt like he said nothing by saying a lot
#3 his one lesson that I took away is you should constantly be thinking about what can force you to reinvent yourself or your company
Overall, only Brett who is a totally semiconductor nerd should read this book.
3 things.
#1 this book is just the same chapter 10 times
#2 I didn’t like his style of writing and felt like he said nothing by saying a lot
#3 his one lesson that I took away is you should constantly be thinking about what can force you to reinvent yourself or your company
Overall, only Brett who is a totally semiconductor nerd should read this book.
May 11, 2021
I thought this was going to be a relatively out of date book by a hardware boomer, but it had some pretty neat perspectives on crisis management generally.
Some of the things that resonated with me:
- You need to differentiate between the people who generate signals vs. noise
- Analysis paralysis is real. Old data doesn’t forecast the future perfectly
- To avoid dealing with a crisis, the CxO will turn attention to an “infinite sink” problem to avoid dealing with the real issues (e.g. writing a book ala Jack Welch)
Some of the things that resonated with me:
- You need to differentiate between the people who generate signals vs. noise
- Analysis paralysis is real. Old data doesn’t forecast the future perfectly
- To avoid dealing with a crisis, the CxO will turn attention to an “infinite sink” problem to avoid dealing with the real issues (e.g. writing a book ala Jack Welch)
December 5, 2023
Mind bending if you read in 2023. The way Andy Grove prepared and predicted for Internet growth is the same way we should be preparing for AI. Strategic inflection point, 10x factors - we are experiencing it now.
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