Conference 7.286::digital

2413.0. "Goodbye and good luck" by SPECXN::EMLICH (Larry, DTN 523-2980) Fri Mar 12 1993 06:14

Goodbye, DEC.

Yes, DEC -- not Digital. I never got used to "Digital".

In 1965, at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, I began to learn something about
computers. The very first computerish thing I saw was a box with a 
flip flop drawn on the face of it. It was a DEC "building block".

So I go to put a bunch of these building blocks together in different
ways and finally into a real, working computer (something like a PDP-8,
I think).

And I discovered I was pretty good at this stuff! After years and years
of failure, I finally found my calling. Right away, I got a warm spot in
my heart for DEC.

A couple of years later, DEC advertised for a service rep in Houston. I
interviewed and hoped, but they didn't want me then. I had no
civilian experience, and there were plenty of local folks who did.

I went over to UNIVAC instead. Spent some time in Asia and returned to work
in Baltimore/Washington.

Didn't like UNIVAC in the States, though. They wouldn't let me fix
the CPU I had spent six months learning. The thing was too expensive,
I guess. But after nearly four years of fixing everything that could go
wrong in remote places like Takhli, Thailand and Nha Trang, Vietnam; I
felt like I was being sent back to kindergarten.

So I hit the job market again. And again, DEC interviewed me. This time,
things are different. I have four years civilian experience on top of
my three military years in computers. Everybody offers me a job --
Control Data, Burroughs, ...

And they all offer me big raises.

Except DEC.

Oh, DEC offers me a job after days of grueling interviews, but with not one
red cent more than what I was making.

So I upset my head-hunter by accepting the job with DEC. They want me
to actually "fix" stuff. They TRUST me to fix stuff. And I felt that
old warm feeling again.

It was July 6, 1971.

In the mill, nobody locked their desks. You learned stuff by reading
memos on people's desk at night. People were in the place all night,
finishing up work, sweeping the floor, learning stuff, doing stuff.


Gary Clearwater and I would go to school all day, then spend half the
night putting bugs in the lab machines and trying to figure out how to
fix the things.

Wow.

There was an atmosphere then. It was warm, mellow, and right. DEC trusted
us and we honored the trust. I was so happy, I talked two old UNIVAC folks
into coming aboard (one is still here).

The work was hard and long. We didn't really have the tools we needed.
We were frequently exhausted. 

And we were happy. DEC was family.

But a company really has no soul. What we thought was the company "spirit"
was probably just Ken Olsen's spirit spreading out and filling most of
us.

When we got too big, the spirit just got a bit too thin.

It died the day we instituted involuntary terminations for financial
purposes.

Contrast.

Way back, the company was in deep sneakers. What to do? Lay people off?

Wait. Let's ask the employees. What do you say -- would you prefer
to lay off a few people? or would you agree to going without raises for
awhile?

The employees chose to go without raises -- even the employees who would
not lose their jobs.

Later. Company in trouble again. This time we move folks around. Send the
instructors out to help the sales force. We're family. We work hard. We
take risks. Because the family won't toss you out when times get tough.

Well, I was sorry to see the spirit die, but all living things die. It's
enough to have had the experience -- to know that a corporation can be
a family, too.

And DEC will probably recover again and go forward and my remaining stock
will once again be worth something.

So I can't really say goodbye to DEC. It has no consciousness and never
really existed.

But I want people to know that there was something good, and we called it
DEC, and I am grateful for the time I had with it. 

Nearly half my life has been spent with DEC. I've worked in Washington, D.C,
Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Maynard, Phoenix, Marlboro, and Colorado Springs. I've
been sent to Switzerland, Brazil, Venezuela, France, Germany, and the U.K.

It's been great! Whatever I've wanted, DEC has helped me to achieve it.
There's never been any artificial barriers. If you want to try
something, go ahead. If you succeed, we all benefit.

And where else can a manager go back to gruntship without major
penalties? I didn't do that. DEC was too smart to ever make me a real
manager, but I know a lot of people who rose too fast and managed to
come down to a safe landing.

Oh, DEC was never perfect. I almost left twice before because things
were less than delightful. But families have problems too. They usually
get over it.

And it worked. When I left UNIVAC, my manager tried to convince me to
stay with the well-established number 2 computer company. It was
dangerous to go off to a small mini-computer company. UNIVAC would be
around when I retired. Would DEC?

Well, where's UNIVAC now? Some of you probably never heard of it. And
they lay claim to the first electronic computer. Now, they're just a
component of UNISYS.

Fond memories and many lessons.

Lesson one. Tight security will choke you to death. I believe it nearly
choked DEC to death.

One reason DEC grew so much in the old days is that we didn't care about
security. We trusted our people and our people were too productive to be
hurt by security leaks. By the time our competitors figured out what we
were doing, we were way down the road, doing something even better.

We were a small company with two or three operating system developers
working on TOPS-10 (operating system for PDP-10). But since we gave the
sources to every customer, we had about two hundred FREE developers and
maintainers -- the system managers at the various universities and
corporations who had plenty of time to find bugs and improve the system.

Did we lose money that way? I don't think so. The college kids who got
to play with our stuff went on to corporate world and began clamoring
for DEC stuff.

I remember marketing specialists walking into the lab in Marlboro and
changing the operating system -- because they knew customers who wanted
the features and they wanted to be able to say we had them. Is that
bad? Did quality suffer?

Well, what's quality without customers?

We didn't have moderated inspections or any other kind of inspections,
but we had Tony Wachs walking up to you and making you wish you'd never
been born with the simple sentence: "You put a BUG in the system".

Lesson two is probably -- Just because someone is good at their job,
don't expect them to be a good manager -- especially if you don't give
them some good management training.

That's not a new problem with DEC. My very first supervisor was a fine
technician, but he didn't know much about how to deal with subordinates.
DEC gave him no management training. They just expected him to succeed
or quit.

I saw this over and over. Frequently, someone who seemed to have
leadership potential would be asked to take a supervisory role. In the
days of fast growth, this usually meant a fast track to branch and
district managership. My district manager in Washington, D.C. was a
bit old, but one customer refused to have anyone else repair his
system. If it crashed, the manager would borrow a tool bag and head for
the site -- with a smile on his face.

Lessons three, four, and five: Treat all employees as well as you treat
customers and treat customers like kings. When you're treated well, you
respond with hard work. When you're trusted, you respond with honesty.
DEC was always pretty good at this -- at least where I've worked.

Lesson six: avoid fads. Lately, we've spent more time on snake oil from
the business eperts than on building products. There's no magic process
or system for quality. Quality is an attitude. You either strive for it
or you don't. The trick is to stay on the tightrope. Concentrate too
much on quality and you never ship anything. Toss it out too early and
the customers ram it down your throat. Hint -- the engineer NEVER
thinks the product is finished. The manager MUST rip it out of his or
her hands at the right time (but not too soon). Don't promote a rocess
that takes responsibility for quality away from the producers. Do that
and we can just blame the new-fangled process for the failure.

Lessons seven through infinity. Destroy all that separates the engineer
from the customer -- the REAL customer. Send engineers to DECUS and make
them talk to the customers. Make them LISTEN to the customers. Program
and product managers should not be inserting themselves in the middle.
They should be bringing the folks together. They should set up the
meetings, take the minutes, monitor progress, etc; but they should never
act as middle-person. This is how we lost contact with the customer base
and lost our way. if the engineer does not understand the customer, the
product will not satisfy the customer. 

Finally, I just want to say: there are very, very few companies like
DEC. Even though I think we've fallen from the rosy, good old days, I
think we're still way above most corporations in the way we treat our
employees and customers. And, with the Alpha, I think DEC can make a big
comeback.

But, after tomorrow, I can't say "we" anymore. I'll be an ex-deccie
forever.

And so, even though there never really has been a DEC, I say: Goodbye DEC!

And good luck, deccies!

- Larry Emlich

    Just a remark,you spoke about UNIVAC and what about REMINGTON RAND ???
    

    Thank you Larry, very much.
    
    Marie
    9/23/73

    Thank you. The lessons you name strike a resonant cord in my mind that
    I won't soon forget. I appreciate you taking the time to condense so
    much wisdom into a single note. 
    
    I wish we had met sooner. Best wishes to you for whatever you choose
    to tackle next.  
    
                  Be Bold!                           
    
    		--Catherine--*
                             

    That was really hitting the nail on the head!! Just hope someone reads
    it and takes it to heart. Someone other than us chickens!
    
    	Best of the Best!
    	Dora

    Thank you!  I hope I see that kind of heart in this company again - if
    not, where are you going?  Need any assistants?
    
    8^)
    
    /Diane

    Thanks, Larry, and best of luck in the future.
    
    Pat
    June 1963
    

    Larry,
    
    Your note brings back fond memories of my first job with DEC in 1967 
    building power supplies in the basement of the Mill.  
    
    Thanks for the remember whens and my best wishes in your future
    endeavors!
    
    Lin
    

    RE: .0-
    
    Well put. Considering the evolution you experienced in the industry and
    the company, I feel your departing message is gracefull, factual, and
    underscores a key missing element- trust.
    
    Best of luck to you.
    
    Phil 
    
    

    And plain Common Sense!  Good Luck on your next Venture, where ever it
    may take you!
    
    - Mike
    

    Larry, you have captured the essence of what motivated us in those 
    early growth limitless days. Like you, I too have fond memories
    of our six months of PDP-10 school together and the midnight labs.
    Today, I don't believe we could have gotten past security today to  
    be able to share in that invaluable learning experience. Remember
    the problem that you stumped me on until it was time for breakfast
    at the Copper Kettle ? You Caused ET0 LOng to fire at the same time 
    ET0 Short was initiated. The lesson from that troubleshooting 
    experience has stayed with me to this day.          
    
    Best wishes in your future endeavours. And may we both be lucky enough
    to find ourselves again in a youthfull organizational environment where
    Theory Y management prevails and Creativity is valued.
    
    gary. 
    
    experienced resources 
    	 

    The Copper kettle is still there and so are plenty of people
    who remember DEC10 school and all nighters at customer sites.
    
    Jim

    re:12
    
    		You are absolutely right....Bill Gates started as a
    DEC10 hacker.   If you want to read more details is in the his
    biography title Hard Drive.

    What I also meant to say was goodbye and good luck to Larry. His note
    really captured the essence of Field Service.
    
    Jim
    
    

Good bye and good luck old friend....well, not too old 8^)

	hearfelt thanks for the many insights over the years,
		the fine power of example,
			the inspiration to quit smoking
	you will be missed.

	Unless you decide to leave that god-forsaken hell-hole
	called CX and come back to sea-level, I probabaly won't see
	you till we get to the happy hunting ground...see ya.
	
	p.s.you wouldn't be goin to redmond to work on that 10 with
	helliwell/bozac???? some people just gotta have fun...

Re:                 <<< Note 2413.15 by SPESHR::ROCKWELL >>>

>	Unless you decide to leave that god-forsaken hell-hole
>	called CX and come back to sea-level...

Speak for yourself.  Personally I like it here at CXO and certainly don't 
consider it a "god-forsaken hell-hole".

-  David (no smiles here)

    where is CXO? and why is considered a "god-forsaken hell-hole"?

    inquiring minds want to know please.

    \bye
    \nasser

    RE: (No smiles here)  Geez, you'd think he said something about your
    mother or something.
    
    
    Mike

Re:       <<< Note 2413.17 by STAR::ABBASI "i am therfore i think" >>>

>    where is CXO? and why is considered a "god-forsaken hell-hole"?

CXO is a group of Digital facilities in Colorado Springs.  I'll leave it up to
the person who made the original statement to answer the second part of your
question.  I'd also be interested to know why.

Re:<<< Note 2413.18 by GRANMA::MWANNEMACHER "Beeler and Clinton-Twin Bubbas" >>>

>    RE: (No smiles here)  Geez, you'd think he said something about your
>    mother or something.
    
I try to make light of things wherever possible, but I didn't find that comment 
at all amusing.

-  David

    
    I would like to know too.  How can you call a place that is 6000+
    feet UP and hole?
    
    You guys back east are in the "hole".
    
    

    >You guys back east are in the "hole".

    OMI'GOD !!

    WE ARE NOT IN THE HOLE , PLEASE  !!!

    i cant believe my own eyes !

    plus if we were really in the hole you dont think like it will be so obvious
    and we will be the first not know it too??

    i dont think DECeees in the east should be calling DECeeees outside
    massusususstetes and new Hamshire as in the hole and visa versa.

    we are one big happy family, we are all DECeeees , so let all just 
    electronically hug and make over and be nice to each others.

    \bye
    \nasser

Don't mind those of us left in CXO.  

Some people have survivors guilt, some people are overworked,
some people people are disappointed in the company, some in their
management.  The mood varies from building to building, floor to
floor, group to group...  The happiest people I've seen in my
area were the ones packing their offices and waiting for their
exit interviews - but not all of them were happy either...

In general, I've worked at 'better' places in the past, and this was one of
them...  during bad times, some people need to vent, don't take it out on 
them.  others people need to believe that the road ahead is full of 
great opportunities, don't take that out on them either.  

	Joe in CXO

nasser is right...may we hug?
its just all brown and no ocean...BUT, one persons hole is another persons home
and nobody likes to have bad things like that said about home...
so appologies from provincial new englander....

Maybe with all this rain it will get green there too.