High-Output Management [Hardcover]

I will say, however, that Intel is a very odd place to work with its own unique corporate culture, some of which I would say is quite functional, but a lot of it isn't; or at least, the principles they say do work really don't, because nobody has the nerve to apply them.

A good example of this is their principle of "risk-taking." This gets talked about more than most of the Intel cultural values. The reason is simple, although they say that it's okay to take risks, and that you won't be penalized if you fail, the reality is that no-one in their right mind ever does it if they don't have to. And it's not because your manager will give you a [rear-end]-reaming like you've never had before if your calculated risk fails and becomes a total disaster. That won't happen, because, as I said, they really do take this risk-taking principle seriously. Your boss may even commend you for having the cojones to take the risk even if your little project becomes a spectacular failure.

The problem is in a much more serious area, unfortunately. If you fail, you'll get penalized through your performance review. (And if you're an exempt employee, all it takes is two below average performance reviews and you can be fired. They don't even have to be really poor reviews). Suppose you spend 6 months working on a risky project that fails. Now it's review time. Because you wasted so much time on this other project, you won't have very many other successful projects to brag about, compared to all the other employees who didn't have the cojones like you did to take a chance, but who now have lesser but at least successful projects they can ballyhoo during "ranking and rating," (or "ranting and raving," as it's called). Hence, you won't be able to compete in Intel's intensive and truly byzantine performance-review process, which insures that people pick safer but less potentially beneficial projects that they know they can pull off and bring in under the wire by review time.

Another very odd thing about working there is that teamwork is valued almost over and above technical competence and originality. In fact, I would have to say Intel employees are about the most docile, uncomplaining, non-individualistic, and basically whipped employees I've ever seen. Someone should tell these guys it's okay to have a spine or a ... once in a while, instead of going through their work-life as a totally whipped, spineless eclair. Quite frankly, I'm not the most studly, macho guy in the world, myself, but these guys make me look like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Arnold Schwarzenegger all rolled into one.

Anyway, whether the principles and strategies in this book are actually being put into practice or not, Andy Grove is certainly a brilliant manager, and Intel is a more than unusually interesting place to work.

When I first started at Intel one of the things I noticed right off was how old Intel employees looked for their age (at least the ones that had been there for 7-10 years or more) compared to the other companies I had worked at over the years. I noticed women only in their early 30's who had worked there since their early 20's, for whom the rosy bloom of youth had long since departed from their cheeks. The men also looked older.

I am not especially young-looking for my age, but I frequently get comments from Intel employees about how young I look for my age. Maybe that's because I haven't been here that long. Outside of Intel I rarely get comments like this. I may not look that young to most people for my age, but at least I don't look older than my age.

On an even more sobering note, health researchers have found that people who look old for their age actually have shorter life expectancies, and correspondingly, people who look young for their age have longer life expectancies.

I suspect that Intel's workaholic employees are the main reason for its success, but I wonder if they themselves understand the toll this success has exacted from them.