Before finishing this book, I thought it would be good to share with you some quotes that I have heard many times during my HBS days, quotes I have found extremely inspiring and practical for my personal life and consulting, investment, and entrepreneurial careers.
In the beginning of his book, Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove, a Stanford professor and the CEO who led Intel to become the world’s largest chip maker, explains what he was paranoid about when he ran Intel:
I worry about products getting screwed up, and I worry about products being introduced prematurely. I worry about factories not performing well. . . . I worry about hiring the right people, and I worry about morale slacking off. . . . I worry about other people figuring out how to do what we do better or cheaper . . . (and) about strategic inflection points (meaning the point when business fundamentals change.)
The concept behind only the paranoid surviving is similar to what I discussed earlier in the context of Murphy’s Law and the need for Plan B. However, it is more than just having a Plan B.
Being paranoid in a way that promotes survival means getting Plan A right in the first place. Some examples:
Exercising survival-promoting paranoia also means being an expert in change management. Change is not easy. I have done a handful of process-reengineering and change management projects in my career. Through these projects, I have come to appreciate that change is easier said than done. These are some of the barriers I have seen:
It is advisable to hold on to this motto regardless of your level in an organization. Being a paranoid CEO will keep you on high alert for external market and internal organizational developments. To get timely and accurate information, you will actively listen to people at all levels inside and outside your company, especially the lower-level employees who have direct contact with customers, products, and key processes. Because you are impatient of deadwood staff members that stand in the way of change, you will create a culture, an organization, and a power base conducive to change. You will actively manage any change initiative to ensure tools, training, and resources are appropriate. (See Appendix D for a leading change management tool.)
The motto is also very powerful if you are in middle management. In every reengineering and change management project I have done, there was always some dead wood. Deadwood staff members tend to be middle-aged middle management people who have been somewhat successful in the past but fail to change as market and competition demand changes in their skills, tools, and approach. This is often due to the reasons for avoiding change I described earlier. Being dead wood puts you in a very weak position. Either you eventually become obsolete or your company, because of the failure to change, becomes obsolete. Believing that “only the paranoid survive” will keep you from becoming dead wood. This is reinforced by another of my favorite quote, this one from General Eric Shinseki, retired chief of staff of the U.S. Army, who says, “If you don’t like change, you are going to like irrelevance even less.”
If you are only an entry-level staff member, this motto encourages you to have an inquisitive mind. Keep your eyes open for any inefficiencies, ineffectiveness, market changes, or new technologies that indicate change is necessary. Minor improvements you make can get you noticed by middle management. Major discoveries could get you a career break. The story of the Post-it Note is an inspiring one. The technology behind the low-tack reusable pressure-sensitive adhesive was invented by Dr. Spencer Silver at 3M in 1968. But for five years, Silver promoted his invention through many channels, including seminars within the company, with no success. In 1974, Art Fry, a 3M employee who had attended one of Silver’s seminars, noticed a possible use for the technology: sticking bookmarks onto his hymnal for church choir. Art Fry subsequently led the development of Post-it Notes. By keeping an eye out for new technologies (by attending seminars, among other things) and being constantly on the lookout for inefficiencies, Art Fry became a well-known figure, credited with making Post-it Notes available to the market.
However, especially as an entry-level associate, you must be careful before suggesting any major changes to management. You must carefully think through the changes, test the idea, collect feedback from colleagues, and be aware of the power structure, especially the higher-level dead wood within the company. If you have an entrepreneurial idea, it may be useful to keep in mind that your observations could also become major business ideas. If the pressure-sensitive adhesive had not been a company intellectual property, it would have been an exceptional entrepreneurial venture.
Warren Buffet says, “I jump out of bed and tap dance to work every day. I’m having the time of my life!”
I am often told by professors and speakers at HBS that a critical success factor in life and in business is to do something you love doing. If you are passionate about your work, you have a much better chance of success. There can be many reasons for this. First, because you love it, you are bound to know a lot about it. Second, you will love spending time and effort on it. Your passion will be a source of inexhaustible energy. Third, life is too short to be wasted on something you do not like.
As I was told this so many times and because people who told me this were all experienced and extremely successful, I do not have the slightest doubt that it is true. However, two points about this quote:
“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there,” writes Josh Billings, a 19th-century American humorist.
Here’s a story I like to tell: When a new salesman asked his manager how many calls he should make to a prospect before he gives up, the manager replied, “It depends on when one of you dies.” This is an exaggeration, but determination and perseverance are indeed key success factors, especially in running a business. Running a business is not easy: getting customers, managing cash flows, organizing operations, motivating staff, fulfilling orders, fighting competition, growing the bottom line, acquiring other companies, attracting investors, and so on and on. You need to be determined to succeed.
Determined people possess the stamina and courage to pursue their ambitions despite failures, criticism, ridicule, or unfavorable circumstances. Many well-known figures in history share the same trait of determination. Who do you think I’m describing in the following list?
This was a man who:
This man was Abraham Lincoln.