The Successor Test (Overcoming Short-Term Emotion in Decisions)
The successor test asks what a replacement would do about a difficult decision. Imagining that perspective can help separate the merits of the options from attachments to past commitments or internal politics.
THE IDEA
The Successor Test
In his memoir Only the Paranoid Survive, Intel’s Andy Grove faced a painful decision in 1985: whether to exit the memory chip business, Intel's original foundation. Despite mounting losses and Japanese competition, internal politics and emotional attachments paralyzed decision-making. Grove asked Chairman Gordon Moore: "If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?" Moore answered instantly: exit memories. Grove replied, "Why shouldn't you and I walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves?" This shift in perspective broke the emotional deadlock, and Intel eventually focused on microprocessors, earning massive returns.
The story illustrates how short-term emotion and internal politics can make it difficult to act on an option. Asking what a successor would do creates some distance from those attachments. The answer still needs to be checked against the available evidence.
Ben Franklin’s moral algebra—listing pros and cons over several days—is another way to create distance from an immediate reaction. The Grove anecdote illustrates a perspective shift; it does not establish that the successor test generally outperforms extended analysis.
When to use it
A CEO deciding whether to divest a legacy product line despite internal resistance.
A manager choosing between two candidates for a promotion when emotionally attached to one.
An individual deciding whether to leave a long-term job or relationship.
A team evaluating a strategic pivot that risks short-term losses for long-term gain.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Intel's Exit from Memory Chips
In 1985, Intel President Andy Grove asked Gordon Moore what a new CEO would do about the memory chip business. Moore said the replacement would leave it. The exchange helped them reconsider a commitment tied to Intel’s history; the company subsequently focused on microprocessors.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a difficult decision you're facing. If you were replaced tomorrow, what would your successor do?
What short-term emotions (fear of loss, pride, comfort with the status quo) might be clouding your judgment right now?
Imagine you are advising a friend in your exact situation. What would you tell them?
References
- Only the Paranoid Survive — Andy Grove (1996)
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Decisive How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work (Chip Heath)