Only the Paranoid Survive

Andy Grove transformed Intel into one of the most important companies in history. In this sage expression of wisdom, he explains the "strategic inflection point" and how it is either your path to winning or losing depending on whether you are ahead of it or behind it. A must-read for all technology leaders.

The real value of this book is that it is written by someone, Andrew Grove, who has actual experiences and managed a start-up right up to a mega successful corporation. There are tons of management and marketing books written by people, based on case-studies and analysis, but lack actual experiences managing or working in a corporation. The main concept of this book is on strategic inflection point, which is a time in the life of the business when its fundamentals are about to change. This change can either infer an opportunity to rise to new heights or signal the beginning of the end. Hence, this book is about the impact of changing rules, guidelines to assist in identifying those situations and about finding your way through those uncharted territories. This book serves to raise our awareness of going through cataclysmic changes and to provide a framework in which to deal with them. This book uses Porter's competitive analysis strategy in terms of the 6 forces as a base. The 6 forces are 1. Power, vigor and competence of existing competitors 2. Power, vigor and competence of complementors 3. Power, vigor and competence of customers 4. Power, vigor and competence of suppliers 5. Power, vigor and competence of potential competitors 6. Power, vigor and competence of substitutes Once a very large change happens in one or several of these 6 forces, a "10X" force is in effect. Very often the transition from a normal business environment to that of a "10X" business environment is very gradual and thus, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time in which the "10X" force came about. Strategic inflection point comes about when this balance of forces shifts from the normal environment to that of the new "10X" environment and it is difficult to pinpoint its exact occurrence. The circumstances that help to identify this strategic inflection point are 1. Presence of troubling sense that something is different such as changes in customers' attitudes, entrant of new competitors, etc. 2. Growing dissonance or misalignment between corporate statements and operation actions. 3. Emergence of new framework or actions. 4. New set of corporate statements is generated. Andrew gave an analogy of working your way though a strategic inflection point to be just like venturing into the valley of death, the perilous transition between the old and the new environments. It is difficult to know the right moment to execute the appropriate actions. Since timing is everything, it is attractive to undertake these changes when the company is in a healthy financial state. This means "acting when not everything is known, when the data aren't in.", merely relying on "instinct and personal judgments" (Chapt 2). Hence it is a matter of training your instincts to pick up a different set of signals. The only way we know whether a change signals a strategic inflection point is through the process of clarification that comes from broad and intensive debate. This debate should invol

I would love to give this book to every senior executive I've ever worked for. The gap between what sr. management sees and what really happens in the field or on the front lines has perplexed me for decades. This book clearly explains why the gap is there and what management should do to overcome this problem that could put the company out of business.

Written by theformer president and CEO of Intel Corporation, located here in Santa Clara, California. I could not put this book down. The 10X power concept and Strategic Inflection Points apply to all of us in business. Well-written, fascinating, easy to understand; a reflection of the company. Also very thought provoking. If you are an executive or entrepreneur or in a decision making position, I strongly recommend you read this book. You will not forget what you read here.

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK THAT YOU WILL REFER TO EVERYDAY. AS A MANAGER OF A MID SIZED DISTRIBUTION COMPANY WE FOUND THIS USEFUL AND INTERESTING. OUR MANAGERS ARE REQUESTED TO READ THIS. ANOTHER GOOD BOOK IS THE 2000 PERCENT SOLOUTION WHICH CAN TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND HELP YOU SOLVE AND CURE STALLED THINKING, WHICH PLAGUES US ALL IN BUSINESS.

Complacency is one of the biggest enemies of any organization, but especially for successful ones like Intel. ONLY THE PARANOID SURVIVE provides two powerful observations that will help anyone who reads this book: (1) That changes are lurking out there that need immediate attention inside your organization and (2) That you must be constantly vigilant for large discontinuous changes (such as those driven by microprocessors, Intel's main product). Having the perspective of someone who has been both the beneficiary and the target of discontinuous change, Dr. Grove's lessons become all the more real. At first, I thought this book was a little overdone; but upon reflection, I feel that complacency is probably best overcome by paranoia in the absence of the management process to locate, anticipate, create and adapt to externally-driven discontinuous changes. We cite this book in our own book about how to be more successful, because we believe it is an important work. Please read this book, and take its lessons seriously. But have fun while you are being paranoid!