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The Maverick and His Machine
At age 40, Watson was thrown a curve ball that, like that first sentence says, nearly ruined him. In fact, it sent him so low that this shaped his character more than anything that had happened to him earlier in his lifetime. It sent him to the lower depths and resulted in him being given the reigns of an equally down-in-the dumps loser business just to get rid of him. He was banished to a corporate Siberia. He was considered a loser, and given a loser's position in a loser's business.
It's at this point that he reshaped and remade that company into what is today known as IBM. The blue suits and white shirts that were the uniform of IBM men became so because he wore one every day. There was no written rule that employees had to wear them; they did it because he did it. That says something: he led by example and his employees admired him.
Just as an aside, it seems that Watson's big thing was that things didn't happen (or went wrong) because people didn't think hard enough. To encourage employees to think he had big "THINK" signs put all over the company. This evolved into "Think" buttons, and employees were even allowed and encouraged to kick back and think. Eventually, small notepads were emblazoned with "Think" and they were called "Thinkpads." Hence, the name of the laptop.
THINK, by the way, is the reason that the company created so many technological innovations.
Now, just because Watson started IBM and largely shaped it into one of the most successful companies in the world doesn't mean he was a saint. Some of the most interesting parts of the book have to do with his home life and how he treated his wife and kids. It seems that he was somewhat of a manipulator who knew how to shape people by breaking them and remaking them.
One story about his son (who would later become CEO of the company) shows Watson's mean streak. It seems that, early in the younger Watson's career, after dinner together at home, the elder asked him what his impression was of one of his executives.
The younger Watson dutifully answered, seeking to impress his father with his skill at observing people. The elder paused and then berated the young man for daring to form an opinion about a seasoned executive who had years of experience behind him. Who did the young man think he was to judge someone who had been in the business since before he was born?
While this isn't the stuff of Ward Cleaver, Watson was, all the same, a courageous and enterprising individual who took risks and (most of the time) succeeded. Especially engrossing is the episode during the depression when IBM was in danger of bankruptcy and shutting its doors. Watson, contrary to what most intelligent people would do, gave a rousing talk to his top executives, telling them that instead of cutting back on manufacturing and personnel, they should increase both.
Luckily (for Watson), a few months later, Pearl Harbor happened and, with the sharp increase in troops, materials and logistics, the U.S. government needed "calculating machines" and needed them fast. While major competitors like NCR and Burroughs had to ramp up production to meet demand, IBM, with its ready stockpile of machines won the contract and delivered, saving them from possible bankruptcy.
There is a lot more I could say about the book but because I don't want to spoil anything, I won't go into it here. However, if you're a Big Blue fan (and I am), you might want to follow up this read with Lou Gerstner, Jr.'s book, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance. It's a great read about how, for the second time in its history, the company was saved from becoming history.
You can purchase The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Yes, praise be to $DEITY for that event.
True story.
Why would a geek care? Because IBM, its technological breakthroughs and Watson are very much the foundation of commercial technology as we know it today.
A true geek doesn't necessarily care much about IBM. IBM is a lot more relevant to suits. In fact, IBM redefines the concept of "corporate culture" and "standardized outfit". They also embody the culture of centralized computing (or at least used to) and the company used to be seen as a "benevolent dictator", with its policy of renting computers instead of selling them.
All these things are quite opposite to the world of geeks. Of course, curious and open-minded geeks read about everything, and therefore should read this book as well.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Because heaven knows one could never have an interesting book about a "dead white man".
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
... you might want to read Father Son and Company by Tom Watson Jr., who took over IBM after his father. Great book, managers could learn a thing or fifteen from Father and Son alike.
Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
Luckily (for Watson), a few months later, Pearl Harbor happened and, with the sharp increase in troops, materials and logistics, the U.S. government needed "calculating machines" and needed them fast.
.30 cal M1 Carbines during WW2... the ultimate in international business machines (and relations).
Don't forget that IBM also manufactured
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Then there was the round-the-world tech support, which is so reminisent of today's outsource-to-India trend.
I like what I read about IBM these days, but haven't been in a position to buy from them lately, so don't have much current knowlege.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Hey, there's a Microsoft salesman wandering around our server room brandishing a baseball bat! Shit!! There goes our webserver. YOU BASTARD!!! YOU KILLED XENNY!!
If you're gonna spoil it, at least do it right. The following is copied from the end of the book:
True story.
I think the reviewer got his facts a bit screwed up. The thing that saved IBM, after the depression started and it continued manufacturing, was the start of the Social Security System (I think in 1933; 1941 would have been a long time to wait...).
The WW II connection is that IBM turned over its manufacturing plants to the government to make war materiel at a 1% profit. Carbines, gun sights, small cannons, other things, were all made in IBM's plants in Poughkeepsie, Endicott, and elsehwere.
Guess your never gonna have sex either then huh? Bet'cha ur pop's loved it!
Mod +5 Drunk
I don't think we should ignore the fact that IBM played both sides.
GPL'ed software doesen't play sides:
GPG is available to me, as well as rat-bastard terrorist types.
In additon, it's increasingly coming out that American businesses that were engaged with the Nazi's were great fronts for American espionage. Don't be so quick to jusge IBM - ther'es a lot more than meets the eye.
I learned this from the Swiss: The Swiss wer'e not nearly so neutral as they'd like you to beleive during WWII - their "neutrality" gave them a lot of room to really fsck over the Nazi's as bet they could without getting caught.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Personally, it would take more than MS supporting Linux, it would take a change in MS's business practices. I used to detest IBM but their attitude towards business changed. It's just an added bonus that they are the most visible corp backers of Linux. If MS drops their exclusionary tactics and user lock-in strategies of proprietary standards / open standards corruption then I might have a change of heart. However, it would ~5 years of "good behavior" before my suspicions wane, just like it did for IBM.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
Exactly. It's like having a big brother. When someone on the outside comes after you, he will defend you.
But when there is no external danger around, he likes to pin you down to the ground and give you nuggies.
Fear the IBM nuggies!
# (/.);;
- : float -> float -> float =
This is SCO we're talking about - does anyone here really expect them to be around in 20 years?
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Gandhi
Unlike most of the Slashdot crowd, I'm old enough to remember twenty years ago very clearly. IBM was *NOT* considered an evil empire. It was big, it was a monopoly of sorts, and it was incredibly difficult to compete against, but it was not seen as evil.
The difference with Microsoft is not its size or monopoly position, but rather its inane mediocrity. IBM innovated. Microsoft does not. IBM produced quality products, Microsoft produces shoddy products. IBM made computing available to the masses, while Microsoft merely dumbed computing down. We consider Microsoft to be an "evil empire" because it could be so so much better. It's like a Wolfgang Puck selling hotdogs, or a Shakespeare writing Hallmark greeting cards.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!