Excerpts

"Even in the remotest times, long preceding the Christian era, the ancients understood the value of dignifying their harbors with impressive works. The Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharaohs of Alexandria were counted among the seven wonders of the world. ... But the bridge across the Golden Gate would dwarf and overshadow them all."

Here, in Part 2 of his Guest Post, Cisco Systems (CSCO) SVP Inder Sidhu describes how he applied his strategy of "doing both" to succeed in America. This is an adapted excerpt from his recently released book, Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today's Profits and Drives Tomorrow's Growth.

We strive to achieve at the office and succeed at home. We try to live for today and plan for tomorrow. We labor long and hard to give our children the things that our parents gave to us: roots to keep them grounded and wings to help them soar. As a son in the East and a father in the West, I "do both" whenever I can.

How Cisco started to get things right after things weren't right from the start.

China-based BYD wants to be the first to deliver a mass-produced, electric-powered, plug-in vehicle. It might just do it, too.

By doing both, Cisco approaches every decision as an opportunity to seize, rather than a sacrifice to endure. This allows the company to avoid a basic trap that ensnarls a lot of companies: the belief that when confronted with two divergent options, an organization must make a difficult trade-off in order to pursue its objectives.