Conference 7.286::digital

    I received this book for XMAS.  It was an enlighten book for one
    who has been here eight years.  I still remeber some of the old
    names Stan, Andy Knowles, Gordon Bell, etc.  I can see why Ken did
    not want the book to be published.  The book seemed to say to me
    that DEC would have been just as successfull with or without Ken
    as it's leader.
    
    For those of you who've read the book, would you say that it's
    an accurate historical reflection of the growth of DEC or just "snake
    oil"?

I also received it for Xmas, have been around about nine years or so.

My 'gut feeling' on it is that it's probably on target on the broad scale of
things.  It's neither a DEC-bashing nor a DEC white-washing.  It presents the
strong points and the failings of a successful enterprise.  The picture it
paints of KO is interesting - I guess we'll never really know how accurate it
is.

Right or wrong, it ought to be required reading for all employees.  Unless
Digital Press comes along with an "approved edition", it's all we've got.

re: .2:
                    -< I think tis more accurate than not >-

Not sure if I would totally agree.  While I assume it's accurate as
to facts, the question of interpretion arises.  The authors' main
sources are people who, for one reason or another, left the company.
If you want to hear about Avram's and Andy's views on the Pro, it's
a useful source.  But, if you want to know why the Pro failed in the
marketplace, Avram and Andy aren't necessarily the right people to ask.

Since the company doesn't do self-puffery, we're not likely to get
a "better" book, but this isn't the book I would give a new customer.
(Now, a customer who has been around for 15 years, that's another matter.)

Martin.

Re:  .3

>Since the company doesn't do self-puffery, we're not likely to get
>a "better" book, but this isn't the book I would give a new customer.
>(Now, a customer who has been around for 15 years, that's another matter.)

Agreed.  I said it would be good for employees.  Not customers.

    I am rapping up a class in "Corporate Culture and Organizational
    Climate" at a local university. The text book for this class was
    written by Ed Schein, MIT Sloan Graduate Business School and a
    consultant for DEC since 1963.  The book, "Organizational Culture
    and Leadership" depicts two companies, Action and Multi...DEC is
    Action as mentioned in "The Ultimate Enterpreneur."  
    
    I just started reading "The Ultimate" and was surprised when I saw
    Schein's name mentioned over and over.  I didn't realize
    that Action was DEC until I read "The Ultimate", however, I did
    say to myself, "this sure sounds like DEC", and to my surprise....
    Schein's book deals mainly with how organizational cultures are 
    formed and changed, and it offers an interesting comparison or 
    contrast for "The Ultimate." Schein is not as detailed as "The 
    Ultimate", however, it does help you understand the how's of culture 
    formation....not an easy task at DEC.
    
    I have to agree with an earlier comment that addressed the "depending
    on who you talk to", the answers will differ.  There do seem to
    be contradictions in "The Ultimate" if you look at what was said
    and what DEC is actually doing, ie., community involvement and valuing
    differences.  Nevertheless, "The Ultimate" was interesting to read
    and has a good picture of Ken on the cover. 
    
    If your into Organizational Culture, you may find Schein enjoyable
    and informative....
    
    Bob
    
    p.s. Been with DEC 15 productive and educational years.
    book... 
    
    

    I finished reading the book several days ago. I must admit that
    I enjoyed the book, and probably learned *some* interesting and
    truthful things about the company.
    
    But I found myself seriously questioning the authors' credibility
    when I came across things like this (I can't quote directly, since
    I don't have the book handy):
    
    There was a section that mentioned that we (DEC) were losing
    (misplacing) customer orders some time ago. There's a quote in
    there that floored me; something along the lines of:
    
    'And as Ken was turning off the light in his bedroom to retire
    for the night, his wife Aulikki turned to him and said, 'Ken,
    how can you lose orders?''
    
    That's when the credibility bells and whistles went off in MY
    head...
    
    Donna
    

    re. .6:
    Well, I can't vouch for the bedroom conversation, but I do know
    that back in 1983 when we shut down the product lines and went 
    AMC, some orders were lost in the transition of the new CAS
    and scheduling systems.
    
    Mike

    Re .6
    
    Remember when the bottom fell out from under DEC stock (the first
    time!!!). That was primarily due to some appalling financial results
    that were all screwed up due to the phaseover of the order systems
    from DEC 10/20s to VAX systems. It was here that a load of orders
    were lost etc. I don't know the full story but it did happen.
    
    Also I greatly enjoyed reading the Ultimate Entrepreneur. I found
    very few places where I knew for a fact that the information was
    wrong and very many places where I knew for a fact (or at least
    I believed my sources at the time the things mentioned happened)
    that the information was true.
    
    I personally believe that the book is closer to the truth than some
    people would like to admit.
    
    Dave
    

    I have no idea whether or not the book is factual or not, as I've
    only been at the company a short time.
    
    I can say, however, that the book is an absolutely wonderful
    orientation to DEC history and culture.  I read it in between jobs
    and it definitely helped me acclimate to DEC's (very (but wonderfully)
    strange) culture.  
    
    It should be must reading for all new hires.

    
    As somewhat of an expert on cultures on the "outside" (15 years at 6
    different companies - small, medium and large), I wonder if long term
    deccies know how good they (sorry: we) have it.  Has the topic of
    "survival" on the "outside" been discussed here ? 

    
    L.

>>    Has the topic of
>>    "survival" on the "outside" been discussed here ? 
      
    See note 393.*

    I am located in Singapore. How can I get a copy?
    
    Heng-Wah Choy
    Singapore SWS

    re .11:  If you can't find the book in a bookstore in Singapore, you
    may have to order it from the US.  Although I haven't tried looking for
    the book in Hong Kong, I think there's a possibility that some
    bookstores there may have it.
    
    I bought the book in the U.S.  (I felt like a fundamentalist faithful
    who went to see the controversial film "The Last Temptation of
    Christ.")  :-)  It's unflattering, but I feel that for the most part it
    was (or tried to be) truthful.  Accuracy, well, that's hard to tell.
    As Martin Minow pointed out, the sources aren't exactly unbiased
    either.  I am not saying that the former employees had any axes to
    grind, but certainly you can expect them to tell the stories from their
    point of view.  Overall, I agree with Dave Garrod that the book may be
    close to the truth, for the most part, although one should not take it
    as gospel truth.
    
    I agree with Resende and Kaplan that it would be educational for new
    (and old) employees to read what the company is (was?) all about.  The
    book makes the point that "Ken Olsen is aka Digital," and I think that
    is true.  Digital would not be what it is, for better or for worse,
    without Ken.
    
    --Simon 
    (in the U.S. this week)

    
    I'm *trying* to catch-up on this conference, and just ran across
    605.9.  It says:  "I read it in between jobs and it definitely 
    helped me acclimate to DEC's (very (but wonderfully) strange)
    culture."
    
    I'm curious:  What about  it do you feel is "strange"?  I've been
    here for so long (8+ yrs) that I tend not to think of it as unusual. 
    Of course, before DEC, I worked primarily for small law firms and the
    like, so this is my first large corporate environment.
    
    I don't want to start a rat-hole here, but I am curious if there's
    a quick answer.
    
    

    RE: .13
    
    Two things come to mind.  First, the matrix management structure
    and the making of decisions at low levels is not typical of most
    large companies.  Second, the networking of the people via personal
    contacts and by things like the notes conferences is almost a formal
    method of conducting business in Digital.  Most of the other companies
    that I have worked for do not even think about doing business like
    Digial does.
    
    And in keeping with the original topic of this note, I think that much
    of the above comes from Ken's management style or, as some outsiders
    have said, his lack of management.  One of the trade rags has
    questioned whether we can maintain this culture as a $12+ billion
    company or will the culture limit the growth enough to impact the
    future of the company.  I, however, am more concerned about how the
    company will survive without Ken (hopefully in the far distant future).
    A company generally will reflect the personality of the people running
    it. 
    
    Lee G.

    When I came here (the first time) in 1978, "industry analysts" were
    saying DEC would have to change its ways and start acting like a
    billion-dollar company.  
    

    Re .13                                                  
    
    Since .9 was my original comment, let me try to explain.
    
    Ruth,
    
    DEC *is* a very strange (yes, and wonderful) culture indeed.  It is
    *so* different from everywhere else, that I think a masters thesis or
    dissertation on "Can DEC oldtimers make it on the outside ?" would be 
    wonderfully enlightening. 
    
    I'm indeed very glad to be here.  But I'm also very glad to have
    had a complete "education" of what its like everywhere else. I am
    continually amazed by the attitudes that I find among people that
    have obviously been here too long.
    
    What makes DEC unique and wonderful ?
    
    	1. At DEC, individuals are respected regardless of hierarchical
    placement on the org chart.
    
    	   Respect can be a very rare commodity on the "outside".
    
    	2. The consensus culture is quite puzzling to an "outsider".
    It simply doesn't exist elsewhere.  As a manager (whoops: a confession
    - I'll probably be barred from this conference) I openly welcome
    group participation (and culpability) in decision making.
    
    	3. I have found DEC very political (like the "outside").  However,
    the difference is that here, politics are *technical* in nature.
    The underlying motivation is to "do the right thing".  On the
    "outside", politics have nothing to do with tangibles.  Rather
    the power struggles are fundamentally hierarchy driven.
    
    	4. (Warning: non-engineers won't like this next one - non-engineers
    (especially marketing types (if any read this conference) should
    hit NEXT UNSEEN)) DEC is an ENGINEERING driven company.  For an engineer,
    this is a truly wonderful place to have the power base.
    
    	   Most "outside" organizations are marketing driven, or sales
    driven, or even (as was the case in my last company) HR driven.
    On the "outside", engineers are 2nd class citizens - fodder for
    the scum-bucket.
    
    	5.  The attitude on the "outside" is that software is "free". Even in
    1989, there is rampant ignorance among "outside" corporate management
    regarding the nature, cost, and value of software development. 
    Not so here.
    
    	6.  DEC is QUALITY oriented.  Other organizations merely give quality
    lip service.    
    
    There are negative characteristics (like benefits and compensation -
    but: you can't have everything - This is probably due to KO's attitude
    that the worst thing you can do is overcompensate your employees (there
    mods: I did refer to a thesis in the book in the original topic)) of
    working at DEC. They pale, however, to the positives - especially when
    compared to the alternatives. 
    
    Enough.
    
    I could go on and on. But I know I've already upset our esteemed
    moderators (yes, even you Bruce) by rambling on about something which
    is at best tangential to the original topic (but Ruth, you did ask...).
    
    L.
                                  

    re: -1
    
    DEC, although unique, is not nearly as different as you make it
    out to be.  Times change and organizations adapt to that change.
    
>    1. At DEC, individuals are respected regardless of hierarchical
>    placement on the org chart. Respect can be a very rare commodity 
>    on the "outside".
    
    A rare commodity, but not that rare.  I know of many traditional 
    manufacturers (always those without unions) where the most respected 
    persons in the plant are those who work on the shop floor.
    
>    	2. The consensus culture is quite puzzling to an "outsider".
>    It simply doesn't exist elsewhere.  
    
    Quite incorrect - many companies of significant size have adapted
    consensus-matrix organizations to their management structure with
    considerable success.
        
>    	3. I have found DEC very political (like the "outside").  However,
>    the difference is that here, politics are *technical* in nature.
    
    Umm, without delving into details, I gotta disagree!
    
>    	4. (Warning: non-engineers won't like this next one - non-engineers
>    (especially marketing types (if any read this conference) should
>    hit NEXT UNSEEN)) DEC is an ENGINEERING driven company.  
    
    This is still largely true but it is changing.  We are doing *much*
    more to market ourselves and respond to customer needs.  Look at
    the recent Enterprise Planning and SIB service offerings, as well
    as the DECstation.  UNIX is snake oil, indeed!

>    6.  DEC is QUALITY oriented.  Other organizations merely give quality
>    lip service.    
    
    Virtually all successful organizations place a high emphasis on
    quality.  Be happy to be numbered among them, but we are hardly
    the only one around.
    
    DEC is a great organization to work for most of the time, but we
    don't have the market cornered on good ideas.  As long as we can
    acheive success with our management methods and employee relations,
    others will try them as well.  We also shouldn't be afraid to learn
    from the successes and failures of others.
    
    Al
    

    There are obvious exceptions.  Nitpickers (at one time *I* would have
    been one of them) can note them.
    
    But the best summary I can think of is that I see a strong motivation
    in DEC to "Do the right thing".  
    
    I define the "right thing" as being a catch-all for moral, technical,
    business, and ethical.  The "right thing" is based on balance, valuing
    difference, professional respect, and defies being capsulized.
    
    I have seen a lot of companies that define the "right thing" solely or
    largely in terms of monetary goals, which I feel is short-sighted and
    counter-productive.
    
    DEC has to be financially successful, but I feel the company is
    dedicated to being successful in other ways, like the quality of the
    workplace and the product.
    
    I think doing the "right thing" is the briefest summation of why DEC is
    different (strange, wonderful, etc.), because it isn't brief at all.
    
    Jim
    

	Well, I finally found this book.  I had seen various pieces and
    tidbits of the series which came out last year in the press, but I
    didn't realize that the material had actually been published in book
    form.  This is great stuff!  Exactly what DEC needs to spread the word
    about our company out to the rest of the world (as to whether "the word"
    here is correct or not doesn't exactly matter, the important thing is
    the exposure - the truth will fall out of the exposure in the form of
    other such books perhaps, and the goodness will fall out of the truth).

	I'm not sure how many people realize it, but the word-of-mouth
    engineering circles that have traditionally carried the message of DEC
    to the rest of the world don't always make it too far beyond the MIT
    campus.  What with PCs being the rage of late, and most people being
    bombarded by Apple, IBM and MS-DOS propaganda in the media rags, it is
    sometimes hard to learn much of what goes on in the realm of the mini-
    computer companies (much less what goes on here in DEC-land).

	I'll never forget the impact that Tracy Kidder's book _The_Soul_
    Of_A_New_Machine_ had on me and my fellow would-be engineers as we were
    all busy struggling our ways through computer science courses as under-
    grads at the University of Iowa.  My wife eventually won the envy of
    our entire class by landing a job with Data General shortly before
    graduation back in the winter of 1983.  None of us had much inspiration
    to work for DEC - mainly because we simply didn't know enough about DEC
    at the time to be dreaming about getting a job here.

	I mean, sure we all learned about the wonders of the PDP's, and VAX
    architecture, clustering, etc, in school, however, we were all too busy
    learning the bits and bytes of the computer world to spend much time
    doing any real historical research or business analysis of the computer
    industry.  By the time graduation rolled around, reality hit and we
    suddenly realized that we now had to choose a company to work for.
    Somehow the notion of working for a company named Digital Equipment
    Corporation (which wasn't even recruiting at our University, much less
    had it been sensationalized by Tracy Kidder) never quite crossed our
    minds.  I think that had this (or perhaps even another such book) existed
    back then, I'm sure that it would have served a similar "dream fuel"
    function for such inspirations as well.

re: .1,
>    ...I can see why Ken did
>    not want the book to be published.  The book seemed to say to me
>    that DEC would have been just as successfull with or without Ken
>    as it's leader.

	I don't know about you, but if you consider a book which labels
    Ken Olsen "The Ultimate Entrepeneur" and which also mentions the quote
    by Fortune magazine on the cover: "...the most successful entrepeneur
    in the history of American business.", as well as faithfully describing
    the scenes at DECWORLD '87 where in one opening dinner "When Ken Olsen, 
    DEC's founder and president, was introduced, the 3,000 dinner guests
    rose to their feet and thunderously applauded for ten minutes." to be
    a book with a negative slant on Ken Olsen as president of DEC, then I
    think that Ken Olsen would have to be literally elevated to God status
    in order for a book to be considered to having a positive slant.

	Then again, the authors of the book seem to also conclude that Ken
    is suspicious of success because with it comes potential complacency and
    mediocrity, so maybe a book which was less complimentary would have been
    better recieved by Ken Olsen?   The way I look at it, Ken is only human,
    so you shouldn't expect perfection in a story about him.  In fact, I
    would suspect something fishy was up if he did come across as perfect
    in such a book.

	While I haven't read the entire book yet, what I have read so
    far does nothing but beam about DEC and Ken Olsen's contribution to both
    DEC, as well as to the entire free market system (which itself is still
    evolving from a very hierarchical, almost feudalistic structure to a
    much more democratic "matrix-managed" environment in many places).  I
    especially like Ken Olsen's Ike-like way of dealing (or not dealing -
    as the case may be) with the U.S. government.  The book describes Ken's
    attitude as being one of ethics - that of not copping-out to the easy
    government money because you soon find yourself locked into a potentially
    ugly situation with the government if you do.  I find this passage from
    page 35 to be particularly revealing:

	"He [Ken] certainly wasn't a pacifist - he had gladly served
	his Navy stint.  But he and Anderson believed that government
	money corrupted a company that wanted to be a commercial success.
	Government contracts were too easy to land; and once you got used
	to them, you lost the hunger to go after commercial business. Most
	of all, Olsen didn't want his independence constrained by the
	government's contractual regulations.  Digital would sell to the
	government, but on his terms."

	So far, I see nothing in this book to be ashamed of for either Ken
    Olsen, or DEC in general.  In this day of hero-killing, I think this
    book is far better than I had expected to see from the media.  I'll hold
    too many further comments until I finish the book, but so far it is too
    good to be true - a regular "Mr. Deeds goes to Wall Street" story - this
    is the sort of stuff that would make for a classic American film (a
    little like the movie "Tucker" - maybe somebody should approach Francis
    Ford Copola about this idea).  Of course, the story of Ken Olsen and DEC
    is far from over yet.

	More later on the book review...

				   -davo