The most direct way of increasing productivity is doing the same thing in a lesser period of time - turning things faster. And productivity is the key to everything - greater productivity increases economic growth.
Groves' comments from years ago are interesting in the light of the recent worker productivity numbers in the U.S., where they dropped in a big way. While for the overall economy increased productivity will help, when everybody pretty much has the same technology, in general that shouldn't be the determining factor of success for individual companies unless you get hold of a technology that your competitors aren't using yet.
All of our major competitors should have the type of technology that should make everyone equal in that department. This is why the culture and purpose of a company becomes so important, as it's there that the differences emerge today that draw customers to a specific company.
In reference to speed though, there's another entire side to the equation that has nothing to do with it. It's in employee training. One of the leading companies in America, Wegmans, won't hesitate to stop an expected store opening date if they feel the employees aren't ready for the task at hand. They are one of the best trainers of employees in the nation.
So in reference to what Grove said about things going faster, it doesn't apply across the board in all aspects of a business. Now we've seen many companies that have poor training and so speedily get businesses opened and then deal with the numerous customer service complaints that come from a poorly trained staff.
The one thing speed does do is give companies a lot more tries at different things than they were able to do in the past, in a lot shorter period of time. But in the end, it still comes down to the vision of a company and its people. Most people are only able to handle growth at a certain rate, great training is one of the "killer apps" of any business that makes them extremely difficult to compete with.
In the end, speed accounts for a part of the success of a business, but usually is trumped by competition using the same or similar technology. It always comes down to the vision and the execution of that vision by our people that separtes the mediocre companies from the great.
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
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