John Linton http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2011-06-15-ibm-corporate-longevity_n.htm
More than 40 years ago I began an almost ten year stint at IBM in Australia and while I was never a 'typical IBMer' I never hesitate to acknowledge that what I was taught (directly and by example), and was allowed to learn, during that period of my 20s and very early 30's has affected all of the positive things I have accomplished in my 'business life'. Doubtless this was also due to those years of any person's life being the most formative but I doubt that any other company has allowed so many people to learn so much in so many different ways in commercial 'history'. Key to that learning experience is summed up in the closing paragraph of the article:
Bernie Meyerson, vice president of innovation at IBM. "We are here because we are innovators. We would not be here if not for it."
While it falls in to the category of 'so what else is new' for the cynical the sad thing about commercial life as I have observed it over the decades is that such a large percentage of it is derivative where it is not just out and out copying and even plagiarism. (ever wondered why EVERY mobile company around the world mis-uses the word "cap" in their plan names?). Over the past week I have become frustrated (to an unacceptable point) by the lack of innovation within Exetel as we finalise plans for the coming financial year. So many of the 'presentations' and discussions I have participated in are based on too much 'me tooism' and I recognise within myself the same tendency to merely base my thinking on derivative sources.
Of course a business of Exetel's size has a limited scope for innovation but it would not be too far from the truth to say that we have achieved whatever small progress we have made over the past seven or so years by making very serious attempts to do things differently in terms of every decision we have taken at every juncture. There now seem to be few, if any, new ideas permeating our current thinking and while that is an inevitability in commercial life in very tough times it isn't going to be good for the 'company' for the reason expounded by IBM's Mr Meyerson. Not that I think that a start up like Exetel should ever think beyond a year or so ahead - and quite often in these difficult times, more than a month or so ahead, but it is really not very satisfying to plan your business life based on how much money you can make. For those who don't understand the basic premise of 'success' - making money is a by-product of doing something very well - not an end in itself.
During my time in commercial life I have been fortunate, especially in the first half of it to have met and worked with some truly outstanding innovators - Andy Grove, Bob Metcalfe, Toshio Ikeda, Gene Amdahl, Brian Josephson and many others of much lesser repute who influenced me greatly - because of the clarity of their thought and the much rarer ability to talk to people like me in ways that allowed me to understand (at least to the limit of my mental abilities) some of their more amazing ways of thinking and then bringing their thinking to a practical reality. The 100th Anniversary article reminded me, in my very minor way, that there has never been any purpose in copying or derivative thinking - someone else has already done it and been copied. All of commercial success has been achieved by doing something unique and continuing to do it better than any copyist because unique thinking leads to continual unique thinking which is beyond any copyists ability to 'duplicate'.
I wonder if my tired and aging brain is capable of doing that, in its very minor way, any more?
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