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Not all strategic
Strategic inflection points offer promises as well as threats. It is at such times of fundamental change that the clich "adapt or die" takes on its true meaning.
How can this be? Because companies that adapt in response to profound pressures often reinvent
Businesses are about creating change for other businesses. Competition is about creating change; technology is about creating change....So the ability to recognize that the winds have shifted and to take appropriate action before you wreck your boat is crucial to the future of an enterprise.
As the organization approaches and comes to terms with an SIP, it's the corporate
I attribute Intel's ability to sustain success to being constantly on the alert for threats, either technological or competitive in nature. The word paranoia is
meant to suggest that attitude, an attitude that constantly looks over the horizon for threats to your success.
And
prompt action
, once vigilance has
It is best when senior management recognizes and accepts the
inevitability of a strategic inflection point early on and acts before thevitality of the business has been sapped by the "10x" forcesaffecting it.
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According to Grove, there are three warning signs that companies must heed in order to recognize a possible 10x force. Monitoring these signs may be an organization's best weapon against the
YOUR KEY COMPETITOR IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
The organization that you have long
YOUR PRIMARY "COMPLEMENTOR" IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
The company that has long been your most important ally may no longer be as important—in the
MANAGEMENT'S ABILITY TO "GET IT" IS CHANGING.
If
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Obviously, the
The prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management.
So how can a CEO and other senior manager make sure that they are properly guarding against attacks? There are several ways:
LISTEN TO ALARMISTS.
Grove calls them "helpful Cassandras"—those folks who are always proclaiming that the sky is falling. They are often middle managers (for example, sales managers), who may be less focused on strategic issues, but are closer to the
ENCOURAGE RIGOROUS DISCUSSION AND DEBATE.
Only by thrashing out the possible implications of what appears to be a strategic inflection point—a debate that should involve different managers at several levels—can an organization determine whether it is truly
EXAMINE—AND BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT—THE DATA.
There is often no substitute for cold, hard facts. But in making the call regarding a strategic inflection point, you may need to discount the data and put more faith in your
There is a very definite progression of events involved in getting through a strategic inflection point, says Grove, who speaks from experience:
Getting through the strategic inflection point required
enduring a period of confusion, experimentation, and chaos, followed by a period of single-minded determination topursue a new direction toward an initially nebulous goal. It required listening to Cassandras, deliberately fostering debates and constantly articulating the new direction, at first tentatively but more clearly with each repetition.
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