Rating: 
Summary: A Practical Guide For Eliminating Stalls From Complacency
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: Always look over your shoulder
Review: Grove's book presents an interesting paradox. For a company to excel, it must move quickly and confidently when it reaches what he calls a "strategic inflection point", or a sea-change in the way the industry in question conducts business. The problem is, it is impossible to predict exactly when these inflection points might appear or what their nature might be. The solution Grove provides in the title of this book is no doubt framed on the walls of executives around the world. A great company must be paranoid-- always suspicious that competitors are gaining on them, constantly worried that they are missing something important, never growing comfortable with the status quo. Only by making these "flaws" a part of the company's culture can a firm be more prepared for strategic inflection points and more able to quickly respond to them. This concept is an important one that any senior manager should make part of his or her managerial philosophy. When things are going good-- especially when things are going good-- that is when you should spend the most time wondering what might make your company obsolete overnight. These days a company might find itself in a fight for survival with competitors it never imagined as a threat, and the firm that is constantly reviewing and revising the way it does business is far more likely to adapt and survive than one that sits back and rests on its laurels.
Rating:
Summary: Always look over your shoulder
Review: Grove's book presents an interesting paradox. For a company to excel, it must move quickly and confidently when it reaches what he calls a "strategic inflection point", or a sea-change in the way the industry in question conducts business. The problem is, it is impossible to predict exactly when these inflection points might appear or what their nature might be. The solution Grove provides in the title of this book is no doubt framed on the walls of executives around the world. A great company must be paranoid-- always suspicious that competitors are gaining on them, constantly worried that they are missing something important, never growing comfortable with the status quo. Only by making these "flaws" a part of the company's culture can a firm be more prepared for strategic inflection points and more able to quickly respond to them. This concept is an important one that any senior manager should make part of his or her managerial philosophy. When things are going good-- especially when things are going good-- that is when you should spend the most time wondering what might make your company obsolete overnight. These days a company might find itself in a fight for survival with competitors it never imagined as a threat, and the firm that is constantly reviewing and revising the way it does business is far more likely to adapt and survive than one that sits back and rests on its laurels.
Rating:
Summary: Always look over your shoulder
Review: Grove's book presents an interesting paradox. For a company to excel, it must move quickly and confidently when it reaches what he calls a "strategic inflection point", or a sea-change in the way the industry in question conducts business. The problem is, it is impossible to predict exactly when these inflection points might appear or what their nature might be. The solution Grove provides in the title of this book is no doubt framed on the walls of executives around the world. A great company must be paranoid-- always suspicious that competitors are gaining on them, constantly worried that they are missing something important, never growing comfortable with the status quo. Only by making these "flaws" a part of the company's culture can a firm be more prepared for strategic inflection points and more able to quickly respond to them. This concept is an important one that any senior manager should make part of his or her managerial philosophy. When things are going good-- especially when things are going good-- that is when you should spend the most time wondering what might make your company obsolete overnight. These days a company might find itself in a fight for survival with competitors it never imagined as a threat, and the firm that is constantly reviewing and revising the way it does business is far more likely to adapt and survive than one that sits back and rests on its laurels.
Rating:
Summary: great book from one of the best!
Review: i bought this book because i'm in the chip industry and i wanted to learn from one of the masters in the field. i have to say that his teachings apply not only to people in the tech industry but to anyone with a yearning to be on top. great book! go buy it!
Rating:
Summary: great book from one of the best!
Review: i bought this book because i'm in the chip industry and i wanted to learn from one of the masters in the field. i have to say that his teachings apply not only to people in the tech industry but to anyone with a yearning to be on top. great book! go buy it!
Rating:
Summary: The book contains extremely practical and useful idea
Review: I find the book stimulate people to alert the environmental change, it is not only useful for business, bu also it is more useful for personal career development especially in the internet age. Andy's presentation is simple and to-the-point, I finish the book in a non-stop 8 hours. I think all the readers can benefit from the idea in the book.
Rating:
Summary: On my XMas List for Every Sr. Eecutive
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: No rest for the weary
Review: In today's business world there just isn't time to sit back and casually look over the scene. Competitors can attack with little or no warning, the product that defines your company can become obsolete overnight. What Grove describes so well in this book is the mindset that companies must develop in order to thrive in this ultracompetitive enviroment. Managers must obsessively examine possible threats from both outside competition and internal complacency, either of which can doom a company. A company that is content to sit back and rest on its laurels is one that risks destruction. The best companies, like Intel and Microsoft and Gillette, work like crazy to develop great products and then work even harder to develop the products that make their last one obsolete. They always keep looking over their shoulder and worrying about who might be lying in wait for them, and this attitude keeps them hungry and vigilent, and very difficult to compete with. Probably the one piece of wisdom that people glean from this book is Grove's description of "strategic inflection points", times when the industry a company works within undergoes a fundamental change. This is an important concept, but it's difficult to use it as a managerial guide because, as Grove states in his book, you usually don't know you're IN a strategic inflection point until it's been going on for quite awhile. Companies that quickly understand the meaning of a strategic inflection point and have the energy and intelligence to act quickly and correctly can make huge strides against competitors who pause too long. And that is where the paranoia of the book's title comes into play. A company that is constantly questioning itself and its market is far more likely to identify strategic inflection points and is far more able to deal with them. And that is what managers who read this book should definetly take to heart-- that complacency is a killer. If you snooze, you lose.
Rating:
Summary: No rest for the weary
Review: In today's business world there just isn't time to sit back and casually look over the scene. Competitors can attack with little or no warning, the product that defines your company can become obsolete overnight. What Grove describes so well in this book is the mindset that companies must develop in order to thrive in this ultracompetitive enviroment. Managers must obsessively examine possible threats from both outside competition and internal complacency, either of which can doom a company. A company that is content to sit back and rest on its laurels is one that risks destruction. The best companies, like Intel and Microsoft and Gillette, work like crazy to develop great products and then work even harder to develop the products that make their last one obsolete. They always keep looking over their shoulder and worrying about who might be lying in wait for them, and this attitude keeps them hungry and vigilent, and very difficult to compete with. Probably the one piece of wisdom that people glean from this book is Grove's description of "strategic inflection points", times when the industry a company works within undergoes a fundamental change. This is an important concept, but it's difficult to use it as a managerial guide because, as Grove states in his book, you usually don't know you're IN a strategic inflection point until it's been going on for quite awhile. Companies that quickly understand the meaning of a strategic inflection point and have the energy and intelligence to act quickly and correctly can make huge strides against competitors who pause too long. And that is where the paranoia of the book's title comes into play. A company that is constantly questioning itself and its market is far more likely to identify strategic inflection points and is far more able to deal with them. And that is what managers who read this book should definetly take to heart-- that complacency is a killer. If you snooze, you lose.
| 
