John Chambers on Keeping Cisco on Top

My most important decisions are about adjusting to change. Over the last 20 years, we’ve reinvent-ed ourselves five or six times. Some were positive reinventions, some were very painful. I worry about missing market transitions, shifts in technology, a change in buying patterns. But I think fear is a wasted emotion. You have to change before it becomes obvious.

The toughest thing is when you see warning signals that others don’t. In August of 2007, we saw the financial institutions suddenly stop buying. Even though the CEOs are my friends and they were saying, “Nah, we don’t see a problem,” the data was undeniable. In 2009, when everybody was getting the darkest, we said, “You know, 2010 looks all right.” We bet, we did acquisitions, and it was a good year. In 2011, when everybody got really optimistic, we saw business from state governments starting to slow. I got crucified for being honest about negative trends.