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Same Old, Same Old at HP?
theodp writes "Computerworld Editor-in-Chief Don Tenant expresses astonishment at HP's cluelessness in the wake of its boardroom leak investigation fiasco, noting that HP CEO Mark Hurd's choice for a new Chief Ethics Officer was Hurd's go-to guy at NCR when the boss wanted internal leaks investigated." From the article: "It seems incomprehensible that no one at HP could foresee that appointing a former Hurd colleague to the ethics oversight position might be perceived as a shameless attempt by Hurd to keep from being further sullied by the scandal. But there's another dimension to all this that's even more baffling. Nearly two weeks before HP announced Hoak's appointment, BusinessWeek ran a story that recounted how Hurd had to deal with a number of internal investigations at NCR, including probes of leaks of sensitive information on Yahoo message boards."
Um. The problem is that Hurd might have been involved in the scandal. If he was involved, bringing in his good buddy isn't going to do anything to help the shareholders. If he wasn't involved, an unquestionably impartial(notice the unquestionably) party would still be better for the shareholders.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
You may think the leaders of the great companies are exceptional and unique people. You are very wrong. They are just like you, for good and bad. The insight into HP has revealed this quite well. They are probably a little arrogant and eloquent, but you will quickly get that in a matter of a year.
So why do they have millions of $$ and all the perks and you little? A large part is chance.
Assuming you are reasonably competent with a good attitude, you will surely be a project manager. With success, you will oversee all projects in your division, and then probably become division manager. Now, if your division is successfull, you will be promoted fast to corporate leadership, and again, now you need success of the whole corporation to get further, and with that you will quickly run the company.
You can at any time, and you should, jump ship, and continue the career for a new company, just like playing frogs.
The catch in all this is simple: Luck and Selection. If your first project is a failure, your career stops. It does not matter what the reason was. This is true all the way, so:
1. Only work for a company that sells what you do. Only than can you reach the top. An IT guy in a hospital will never run the hospital. Physicians will.
2. Only pick sure successes.
3. Jump ship if neccessary, and do it early. Dont ride a failure to the bottom.
The HP managers just lucked out on the above due to good times or other random global events, and managed not to screw up early on.
Just go for it.
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
Actually, they make plenty of good decisions. Th bad ones recieve an inordinate amount of attention.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.