Adapt or Die: Dealing with the Strategic Inflection Point

So I’m currently reading What the Best CEOs Know: 7 Exceptional Leaders and their Lessons for Transforming any Business by Jeffrey A. Krames. I can’t say that I love it. I’m about 75% done… and I have only been reading for about four hours, collectively. It’s a quick read…a simple read…but it includes some really great practical tips on organizational leadership.

SO the book discusses 7 great CEOs, one of which is Andy Grove, the founder and former CEO of Intel. Grove made some big waves with his analysis of the Strategic Inflection Point (SIP). What is the SIP, you ask?

A point at which a company comes face to face with massive change…

Tends to arise following a long period of unbroken success…

Different from ordinary change based on the bagnitude of the potential effect on the business…

This was big for Intel. They lost a huge chunk of their massive market share. They now had international competitors. (This was all in the mid 1990s, by the way). This SIP deal really hit me though. It is so prevalent not only in organizations, but additionally in every facet of our lives. How many times have you thought “DAMN things are just so great right now…I’m terrified.” “What?? Terrified?” “Terrified because I know it won’t last.” And you’re right. As noted above, the SIP follows a long period of unbroken success. Right when you’ve leaned back in your chair, in a full-on lounging ultra-smug position…it happens. The world crumbles. All hell breaks loose. Your servers fail. Your boyfriend breaks up with you. You get fired. All of your new 2010 Prius models are recalled (Sorry, Toyota). Whatever the case may be, it happens.

Andy Grove elaborated on this SIP when he said:

We managers like to talk about change, so much that embracing change has become a cliche of management. But a strategic inflection point is not just any change. It compares to change the way Class VI rapids on a river, the kind of deadly and turbulent rapids that even professional rafters approach gingerly, compare to ordinary waters.

Right…so…what the hell are we supposed to do? When an organization/individual hits that SIP, “what used to work now no longer works. Chaos, or at least a sense of being out of control, predominates.” Grove declared that Intel was “wandering in the valley of death.” Shit.

I cannot even count the times I’ve been there. Especially in my crazy, peak-and-valley, hormonal life of a highly visible collegiate superstar. Life is perfect. Life is over. I’m so lucky! I’m seriously slitting my wrists later this afternoon. Can’t wait to face the day! I‘ll be in my bed if anyone needs me…for the next three months.

It happens. So what are we supposed to do when our whole world is turned upside down and we are literally left with no direction? This book insists that “strategic inflection points don’t necessarily mean institutional death. If managed skillfully, they can also breathe life into an organization.“

How many times have we all heard those lines about “overcoming great adversity” and “turning a new leaf” and “starting each day anew” and “seizing the opportunity” and every other motivational one-liner overused by your 7th grade track coach? No? Just me? Okay.

So this SIP isn’t deadly. You can be reborn and strengthened by massive change. “No way, Diana. I don’t believe you. The glass is half empty, for sure.” Au contrair, my dear reader. Grove insists that “it is at such times of fundamental change that the cliche ‘adapt or die‘ takes on its true meaning.” After this inset of massive change, companies often reinvent themselves, adding important new skills and competencies as they adjust to the external change. Okay great. Theories. That will help me deal with my five cats all dying in one day. But so really, how do you do it???

How do you deal with the Strategic Inflection Point?

According to Krames, and as observed in Intel, one must:

• Avoid complacency
• Instil a healthy amount of paranoia into the organization/your own brain
• Take prompt action
• Adopt a “guardian attitude” by…
  • Listening to alarmists
  • Considering the situation from all levels
  • Examining the data with skepticism.

I like this guardian attitude point. It’s like…listening to Chicken Little or the Boy who Cried Wolf, then thinking about it, then deciding if you should believe them. Then acting. Quickly. So, to sum it all up, I turn back to my old buddy Andy 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 to pursue a new direction toward an initially nebulous goal.

That’s a pretty loaded sentence. But you’re smart. Diagram it or something.

So the next time someone tells you to just enjoy your prosperity and live in the moment and don’t be scared of what’s to come, tell them to shut up and read this post.

It’s okay to be terrified. We are all right there with you.

That’s all for now. I’m damn tired and I have a long ass day ahead of me. And I’m chilling on WordPress. SIP forthcoming…shit.

So I know you’re dying to know–Why am I up at 6:54 reading this book? Because my professor told me that he “really liked my discussion points during class” and that I am “definitely on the right track.” Behold the power of flattery. So this book must be read and analyzed by 12:45 pm today. I cannot disappoint a fan. Especially one who is deciding my grade.