I am reading Jim Collins’ Good To Great.
While reading Chapter 4. Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Loose Faith), I came across the stockdale Paradox. I remembered having read about it earlier.
I googled for it and found the link .
I had read this blog post a couple of months ago, which applied Stockdale paradox to the startup phase.
The Stockdale Paradox, reinforces my belief in Perseverance and Patience. When i started my company, the only advantage (read USP) we had was “cheap programmers”. But I wanted to do more than provide services to companies because we were cheap. And gradually, at the cost of refusing lame projects, we have been able to build niche areas. I had to refuse projects, which would have added to the numbers, but would have not given the joy of programming which me and my fellow programmers now enjoy at vinsol.
This transition at vinsol, involved not only The Stockdale Paradox, but also the Hedgehog Concept, which Jim Collin discussed in Chapter 5.
I recommend this book, very strongly to all. It is a must read for Indian companies who want to rise up the value chain [I do not say that we have done so, but are better placed than where we were an year ago.]