Conference 7.286::digital

    A so-so copy is on the way.  The date of the memo is 15 Feb 1982.

I remember attending a meeting with Gordon Bell several years ago to discuss a
new "blue-sky" product.

He opened the meeting by stating that anyone who was present who did not intend
to work directly on the development of this product was politely invited to get
up and leave right then and there, and not waste the time of the workers.

/john

I remember the memo and recall it even went on to suggest that
people in the NOP could stay home and to avoid interferance with
the project work. As I recall there was also a suggestion that if
we ever did have to have a layoff, the best candidates would
already be grouped. It was a classic memo and typical of the G
Bell style.

Glad to see Ed Fortmiller has sent you a copy since I deep sixed mine
during one of my paper purges.

    
    Anyone care to type it in?

	Or scan it in? DECwindows Notes supports DDIF images.  If someone 
	wants to mail me a photocopy, I'll see what I can do to scan it.

							mike

    Why all the interest?  I remember that piece of foolishness also,
    and seeing some of the previous comments reminded me why I was relieved
    when Bell left.  Good Riddance.

    
    Who the heck is Gordon Bell anyway? I've been with DEC 5 years now
    and all I've ever heard is "boy Gordon Bell wouldn't have tolerated
    *.*;*". The clearest things I can put together is that he was a
    booster of the LCG approach to computing and when LCG was iced he
    went with it in a huff.
    
    I love the sounds of this memo. I've always been amazed at how much
    of a hinderance bad people are to an organization. Now I don't mean
    marginal performers because they usually can be placed somewhere
    productive. I mean our fellow workers who just have no desire to
    do an excellant job and wind up costing us money by their laziness.
    I even know how bad that sounds but I've seen several fs engineers
    that were fired over the years and their loss made everything easier.
    It took alot of guts and work for the managers to fire those people
    but I was directly helped in each instance. 
    
    Oops I got started again!
    
    Fred Mudgett	  
                                           

    Gordon Bell was VP of engineering 'til '82 or so.

here it is:
    
*****************
* d i g i t a l *
*****************

TO: ENG STAFF:			    DATE: MON 15 FEB 1982 6:55 AM EST
    JACK SMITH			    FROM: GORDON BELL
				    DEPT: ENG STAFF
				    EXT:  223-2236
				    LOC/MAIL STOP: ML12-1/A51

SUBJECT: TASK FORCES, COMMITTEES; NOD; C-I T/F; PRODUCTIVITY REV.

I just read the minutes of two meetings of a task force called
Customer Installability.  It is not a task force it is a sewing
circle consisting of 21 people!  If there weren't 3 people there
who I know have real work to do and have done good work, I would
ask that we simply dismiss the whole group.

The minutes contain no real information on the subject.  We already
have a spec on what CI is, and we have to do some work on
products to get it.  This is not the work of a committee.

My point, I would like you to come forward with a list of the
various committees and task forces, etc that are working within
your group during the productivity review.  I don't want to 
look at them, but I expect you to have, and I want to know that
you understand what's going on in your area.

I believe 1/2 of these people could be let go from DEC today
and our productivity would take a sharp rise.  If this is
the case, I would like to have their names and since we have the
reputation for never firing anyone we can put them in a new group
I propose we start called NOD (No Output Division) where they
won't take time from people who have real work to do.
PS
I'm quite serious about NOD.  Since it is so difficult to get
rid of people, I want to make us at least not have them mixed
in with the workers and suck up good people's time.

15-FEB-82  06:55:06  S 31987  BURT

  Thanks very much to the folks who responded.

  Re "Why all the interest", it's not a burning issue, it's more a bit
  of personal nostalgia. 

  E. Gordon Bell is certainly eccentric, but also quite brilliant, and
  was instrumental in forming Digital's product strategy. Before he
  left, he almost single-handedly made all of the project/product/
  budgeting decisions during the many years when Digital's revenue grew
  steadily at around 35% per year. Before we criticize him for some of
  his more bizarre behavior, we should remember that KO himself can be a
  bit eccentric at times, but that has little effect on the level of
  respect the world has for him for his outstanding achievements. Bell
  didn't leave Digital because top management felt that he was
  expendable (my opinion), and I, for one, still think that he would be
  a valuable asset.

  Also, it was not my intent to start another topic on productivity.
  That particular issue is being beaten to death in a lot of other
  places. If people choose to discuss "Gordon Bell trivia" in this
  topic, I'll be thrilled to read it - providing it doesn't get
  libelous (critical, fine; unfair, no).

    re: .10
    
    That's C. Gordon Bell, not E. 
    
       Gary

    Ardent

        Have we invented another way to differentiate "old" DECcies
        from newer Digital employees?  The older DECcies know who
        Gordon Bell is/was...
        

    re .15
    
    A minor correction -
    
    	"Real DEC employees remember Gordon"
    
    to take advantage of the
    
      I_was_hired_by_DEC_but_now_work_for_Digital_syndrome
    
    
    	-Barry-
    

re: .7
    
    [Who's Gordon Bell?]
    
    <<        *.*;*". The clearest things I can put together is that he was a
    <<  booster of the LCG approach to computing and when LCG was iced he
    <<  went with it in a huff.

    Oh, how does one get this impression??? Gordon was the driving force
    behind the "One company, one architecture" concept. He pushed the
    idea of stopping all the divergent products we had and go to a single
    architecture (VAX) with a single operating system (VMS) capable
    of running from the smallest to the largest of systems.
    
    (Your description, however, could well apply to some others here
    at the time who later left.)
    
    Coincidentally, I'm right in the middle of reading "The Ultimate
    Entrepeneur: Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation". It has
    an excellent description of Bell (and others). I think the authors
    have their own opinions of the people the have written about, but
    all-in-all, it's fascinating reading for someone, like me, who's
    been around 18+ year and seen many of the events first hand. 
    
    	/Marvin

    Re: .15
    
    Being a touch to recent to know Gordon, how about...
    
      "Real Digital employees remember Gordon, but great ones worked
       for Tom."
    
    There's probably more of us than you, anyway.
    
    As to folklore: Tom used to throw ashtrays through the glass walls
    when discussing less-than-exemplary employee performance.
                                                 
    
    :^)  <--- Lying down on the job??
    

    re .18                                     
    Tom who??  I've been here for almost 14 years now and I don't know who
    you are referring to offhand.
    
    re: Gordon Bell.  Those of us who were struggling along in LCG through
    all the budget cuts and stuff (and ultimately "outplaced", as I was,
    though a lot of the more "famous" people left the company) called it
    the "one egg, one basket" approach.  Heck, we've even ressurected the
    "DECsystem" name for the MIPSCO processor machines.  Makes one wonder
    about the future, too.
    
    /Charlotte (still a bit bitter about the number that was done on her,
    even though it has been about 4 years now!)

    re: .20
    
    After reading that you're still bitter, I guess you aren't ready
    for the facetiousness of .18, but here goes, anyway.  
    
    Tom is Thomas J. Watson Jr. -- there's so many of us infesting this
    company now it's no wonder the 6000 line has model numbers.
               

    Oh!
    
    No, I never did work for IBM.  I did, however, work for Burroughs
    (Unisys, these days).  If you don't like DEC, you ain't seen
    nothing....
    
    /Charlotte
    
    (But it really *was* tough in the last years I was in Marlboro, as the
    funding got tighter and tighter, and the political infighting to get
    the remaining crumbs of it got fiercer and fiercer.  I never could
    stomach politics anyhow, which was and is well-known by everyone, so it
    was no big surprise that I got the short end of it.)
              

    .20, .22:
    
    I used to be a TOPS-10 support type, and went to the Jupiter
    cancellation announcement.  I thought it was telling that something
    like 80% of *former* DEC 36-bit customers, when they switched, chose
    IBM.
    
    Dick

    It was funny to read that letter about NOD people from Bell.  I
    worked for someone who was a direct report to him for a number of
    years who would have headed that list (I'm sure).  This person was
    a total zero at the job I had to train him/her for (as my supervisor)!
    What a laugh!!
    
    -anonymous
    

        
>>    I used to be a TOPS-10 support type, and went to the Jupiter
>>    cancellation announcement.  I thought it was telling that something
>>    like 80% of *former* DEC 36-bit customers, when they switched, chose
>>    IBM.

    I'm afraid not, the majority STAYED with DEC.  Yes, some did go to
    IBM but not even close to 80%.
    

    .25:
    
    I don't recall if it was stated how many DEC-10/20 customers stuck with
    DEC, but I do recall that they were considered to be a continuing DEC
    customer if they bought so much as a VT100 (i.e., pitching the system
    for a competitor's machine didn't necessarily mean that they were
    considered to not be a DEC customer).
    
    Of the people who fit the category of "former DEC customer, thanks to
    the Jupiter cancellation", it was reported that 80% switched from us to
    IBM.  I wonder how much milage they got out of our shooting ourselves
    in the foot.
    
    Dick

There is a time capsule embedded in the entrance walkway at ZKO that was sealed
by Gordon Bell in 1980 and to be opened in 1996.  The plaque mentions that the 
purpose was for engineers to better understand their heritage (or something like
that).  Walking by, I told a friend that I wondered what was in the capsule.  A
random engineer standing nearby said, "Knowing Gordon Bell, it's probably 
filled with virtual memory."

    re: .27
    
    The ZK time capsule has various things in it.  Some that I remember:
    
    	A microfiche listing of VMS V2 (I think)
    	A module from Hudson that when hooked up to power and a TV
    	  monitor displays some history of the HL site.
    	A copy of "CPU Wars" (donated by yours truly)
    	A videotape of the ceremony (the capsule wasn't sealed in
    	  until later)
    
    There's a bunch more stuff - maybe a copy of the "Spit Brook Tenants
    Association" newsletter.
    
    I think the 1996 date had some relevance to Bill Heffner - I don't
    recall much of Gordon there at all.
    
    		Steve (who hopes to be around for the opening)

    Chuck Spitz's NH license plate, RSX11M.

 Read during lunch and enjoyed his wit:

    "Your Guide to Mapping the Internet" -- Gordon Bell's perspective.

     University Video Communications, Palo Alto, CA, US
     Gordon Bell narrates this multimedia tour through the past,
     present, and future of the Internet.

         http://www.uvc.com/gbell/promo.html

    re: .27  Is someone planning an event for the time capsule?

I believe that the time capsule was dug up when the walkway needed some work 
and was found to have leaked and the contents severely damaged.  I was 
saddened by this, but if fits in with much of what I have learned about the
computer industry - that change is constant and nothing lasts long.

Jim