"Knowledge power" supercedes "position power."
During Andy Grove's younger years, of which he was a Hungarian Jew growing up with not only the threat of Nazis, but also the ensuing invasion of the Soviet Union in his country, his life was literally in danger. Some of his relatives had died in the German camps.
This had a tremendous impact on Grove as he developed into a manager, and brought him to the conclusion that having a title doesn't make you a good manager, as he believed knowledge power trumped position power. A title or position may give someone the authority to make someone else do something, but there's no guarantee that something will be effective. No title or authority can guarantee effectiveness, but only the person wielding it.
One way this was expressed by Grove at Intel (INTC) was in how he described how they dealt with issues there. He said, "We argue about issues, not the people who advocate them."
His reasoning was connected to what happened in his childhood if someone was directly connected to an idea not in favor with the authorities: it could cost them their lives.
So he separated ideas from people, and directly at "knowledge" and not positions or titles as the motivating factor in the company.
Another element in why Grove was so enamored with knowledge power was the need to dig deep and find out what was really going on, as getting the right information, could again be the matter of life and death at the time.
This was one of the reasons Grove was so passionate about finding out what was really happening, rather than taking things at face value. It's something all of us in business need to be a little more cautious about, especially since our times are getting even more volatile as far as information goes, and getting the right, quality information even harder.
One thing that underscores all the great business leaders we talk about at managersrealm, is this propensity for gathering and sifting through the hordes of information, and then cutting through the hype to find what's true. This is one of the great differentiators in our time. We need to be committed to doing it. Half the battle is having the will.
Grove is a good example of someone that refused to operate in any other way. Our physical lives may not depend on it, but our business and professional lives will.
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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