'there Is No More Normal'

摘要

John Chambers knows what it feels like to survive a crash. In 2000, CiscornSystems had the largest market cap in the world and more than 50% annual sales growth. Then the dot-com bubble burst, and the Cisco chief executive watched the networking giant's stock drop 86%, from 80 to just over 11 by September 2001. Chambers laid off thousands of employees, shrank the number of suppliers, and simplified or jettisoned many products. He also radically changed the way he managed, turning a command-and-control hierarchy into a more democratic organizational structure. The company emerged from that recession more profitable than ever and went on to outperform many tech rivals. In retrospect, Chambers wonders if he could have done even more. "Without exception " he says, "all of my biggest mistakes occurred because I moved too slowly." The challenge for many business leaders is figuring out what moves to make now.