"Put common sense on a pedestal."
Andy Grove couldn't stand pretension and putting people on a pedestal, including himself. Grove originally had no intentions of being a manager or CEO of Intel (INTC), he was put in the position by default.
When the two other founders of the company, Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore, were the number one and number two employees at Intel, guess who they decided should run the company? The number three employee: Andy Grove. The other two had no desire at all to run the business.
While Grove took on the challenge, it's not something that made him think of himself as extraordinary simply because he had a position with a title.
That's the type of environment he was thinking of when he made the comment about putting "common sense on a pedestal."
Even though there were titled leaders in the company, it was the best ideas that came from anybody, that were held in the highest esteem - and rightly so.
Another aspect of the focus on the importance of common sense, was his aversion to "uncommon nonsense." This is why everyone that knew Grove said probably his greatest attribute was the ability to stand outside an idea or thought and look at it as an outsider. He was able to totally detach himself and see things as they were.
That's part of what he called common sense ... the ability to look at something as it was, rather than hyped-up, strange nonsense.
This is an interesting trait among almost every great business leader I've met or read about: they all have the ability to cut through the silliness and hype to look at things how they really are. Grove was one of the best ever at doing this.
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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