Amazon.co.uk Review
Only the Paranoid Survive is about recognizing, overcoming and even profiting from the inevitable groundshifts in commercial life that, by changing the fundamentals of the business environment, shake established enterprises to the core and raise newcomers to power and wealth. Grove takes this simple--if unarguably true--idea and brings it alive with a wealth of examples, shrewd understanding of corporate dynamics, and unblinking realism about why businesses succeed or fail. Many of his war stories are based on Intel's own missteps, including the famous Pentium floating-point fiasco. He also spends a lot of time talking sense about corporate cultures, how they react under extreme stress, and the factors that enable one to survive while dooming another to die.
Only the Paranoid Survive is a mirror in which everyone in the computer industry should view the company they work for, and the course of their own career.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The President and CEO of Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, reveals how to identify and exploit the key moments of change in any industry that generates either drastic failure or incredible success. Under Andrew Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest computer chipmaker, the 5th most admired company in America, and the 7th most profitable company among the Fortune 500. Few CEOs can claim this level of success. Grove attributes much of it to the philosophy and strategy he has learned the hard way as he steered Intel through a series of potential major disasters. There are moments in any business when massive change occurs, when all the rules of business shift fast, furiously and forever. Grove calls such moments strategic inflection points (SIPs), and he has lived through several. They can be set off by almost anything - by mega competition, an arcane change in regulations, or by a seemingly modest change in technology. They are not always easy to spot - but you can't hide from them. Intel's first SIP was when the Japanese started producing better-quality, lower-cost memory chips. It took Grove three years and huge losses to recognize that he had to rethink and reposition the company to become, once again, leader in its field.Grove extrapolates the lessons he has learned from this and other SIPs - for instance the drama of the Pentium flaw, and the SIP brought on by the Internet - to reveal a unique insight into the management of change. He recounts strategies from other companies and examines his own record of success and failure. Only the Paranoid Survive is a classic lesson in leadership skills that every manager in every industry will benefit from. Every manager must assume that something will change - very soon.