“Learn what goes on at the periphery of your business” says Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel, in his book ‘Only the Paranoid Survive‘. He goes on to explain: “When I absorb news or information coming from people who are geographically distant or who are several levels below me in the organization, I will triangulate on business issues with their view , which comes from a completely different perspective. This will bring insights that I would not likely get from my ordinary contacts.”
In my observations it is not just about observing what happens in the industry or in the particular company. Peripheries are great places where experiments happen, and where people in your organization grow much faster than at the core because of the exposure.
Most organizations do underestimate the value that could be brought to them by their peripheries. It goes to the point where the experience of people sent there (typically, expatriates) is not valued at all by the core organization and gets ultimately lost to competition as these people leav in droves, unsatisfied by the lack of recognition.
With the Fourth Revolution, the importance of the periphery and of groups of people that are not directly within the organization will increase significantly, further from what Andrew Grove observed when he wrote his book in the 1990’s. Organizations that continue to focus excessively on their core will lose competitiveness. Watch for your periphery and leverage on it!
