Only the ParanoidSurvive!

Perhaps contrary to the previous post "Are we too paranoid" - I thought I would balance that with a quote from Andrew Grove, Founder of Intel:

"Only the paranoid survive."

I love that motto.  Apparently Andrew cannot recollect saying it, but does acknowledge that he does worry about everything. 

It reminds me too of a concept called the 'Stockdale Paradox', which refers to a philosophy of Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale - a US naval veteran who was the highest ranking US officer in a Vietnamese prison camp.

Jim Collins wrote a well-known business book called Good to Great. Jim Collins interviewed James Stockdale on the subject of leadership and his coping strategy during his period as a captive:

Stockdale: "I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade."

Collins: "Who didn't survive?"

Stockdale: "Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart."

Collins: "Tell me more..."

Stockdale: "This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

Jim Collins went on to describe this philosophy of duality as the Stockdale Paradox.  Put another way, one should have absolute belief in your ability to get through something or to achieve a goal - but at the same time not have blind optimism.  One needs to face reality and fear the worst.

Perhaps business-backup should be approached in a similar way: plan as if everything that could go wrong will go wrong; but have belief that you will pull through whatever disaster strikes.