In an industry where the honorific "visionary" is applied as liberally as lip gloss in Hollywood, Grove resolutely refused the label.
A lot of the reason Grove hated this type of terminology and nonsense, was that within the tech community especially, the hype was so great that it was becoming meaningless and in many cases - nonsensical.
Even though he was in the industry, for three years he warned everybody about the soon-to-come tech meltdown ... until it finally happened. The reason why was he could spot a lot of crap from far away, and he knew that no matter what happened, solid business principles weren't going to go away just because of technological advancements.
He took no prisoners in this area, and he had zero tolerance for any of the garbage people were throwing around about the "new" that was here.
So when the word "visionary" was starting to become attached to anybody in the field, he would fight to ensure that nobody would apply it to him. Even though some did, he completely rejected it.
He was wise to do it, as the dotcom bomb proved. When it happened, there wasn't anybody that could say he had included himself in the unrealistic hype.
The other important thing is if people are labeled like that, it can start to make them think that they have some type of magical force field around them that protects them from the world of real business where you actually have to make a profit. Grove wouldn't let himself enter into that make-believe world that so many immersed themselves in.
Essentially what happened was the word "visionary" had become a commodity; everybody was one, which means the word was cheapened and contained nothing of value other then patting each other on the back.
In the end it all comes down to execution, which breeds reality. The only true visionaries are those that bring something that is unseen into practical reality. Otherwise it's just a word devoid of any power which is emptied of its meaning. Grove didn't have that problem.
Other Andy Grove Resources:
Andy Grove's Rational Exuberance
The Digital Age . . . driven by the passion of Intel's Andrew Grove
The History and Influence of Andy Grove
Andy Grove enters new post-Intel role as activist capitalist
Remember to Sign up for my feed, bizzbite and digg this!
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith
Comment Preview