Is the HP Way still relevant today?
theengineeringmanager.com
Is the HP Way still relevant today?
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#2You know what? I worked at this company like recently and I bet the job wouldn't have been really stupid if this was still a thing
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#3I read the blogpost and I was wondering what I was missing. Then I looked to the left of the page, and saw it was categorized as 'Growth'. So this is like a little advertisement for Brandwatch?
I'm sorry if I got it all wrong, James.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#4I read the blogpost and I was wondering what I was missing. Then I looked to the left of the page, and saw it was categorized as 'Growth'. So this is like a little advertisement for Brandwatch? I'm sorry if I got it all wrong, James.
It was a reflection inspired by the day we had together as a company. I wouldn't say it's an advert, but I do like working there.
Out of curiousity, why would that category make you think it is an advertisement?
I currently bucket my posts into "management 101" informational articles and then everything else currently lands under "growth". I could probably do with making some more categories now there are a whole bunch of articles on the site.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#5Considerably more relevant than what is left of HP-the-company. Every time I use my trusty HP-12C I feel a little sad for what was lost in the slash-and-burn era of Fiorina. Swiss Micros keeping the dream alive!
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#6I read the blogpost and I was wondering what I was missing. Then I looked to the left of the page, and saw it was categorized as 'Growth'. So this is like a little advertisement for Brandwatch? I'm sorry if I got it all wrong, James.
It was a reflection inspired by the day we had together as a company. I wouldn't say it's an advert, but I do like working there. Out of curiousity, why would that category make you think it is an advertisement? I currently bucket my posts into "management 101" informational articles and then everything else currently lands under "growth". I could probably do with making some more categories now there are a whole bun…
Then I was wrong.
Your blog post reminded me of a style of writing. Reciting something with the intent to make it look cool, then show how it applies to your company. The 'Growth' category made me wonder if you were doing that. But I see, it's a pleasant reflection.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#7As someone who worked in the HP company during the Carly, Mark, Leo and Meg eras, I’ve heard some old timers say much better things about the company.
Even when I started, The HP Way was known and alive at least in some pockets of the company. It was what inspired many to give our best despite the changing environment.
After Carly, things only got worse with Mark Hurd. Cutting costs was the one and only trick he knew.
Now the company remains a tiny piece of its former self, having been split and sold to others in pieces.
Any company that looks up to and wants to emulate The HP Way would be good to be employed in.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#8I read the blogpost and I was wondering what I was missing. Then I looked to the left of the page, and saw it was categorized as 'Growth'. So this is like a little advertisement for Brandwatch? I'm sorry if I got it all wrong, James.
Two sections before 'The HP Way' in an engineering blog.
Section 1 - Linting (sounds like engineering, interested, continue)...
Section 2 - Management (3 paragraphs ending with maligning the President's management style, not interested, tired of it, 41.7% chance of annoying your audience) https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/
Section 3++ - Didn't read.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#9As someone who worked in the HP company during the Carly, Mark, Leo and Meg eras, I’ve heard some old timers say much better things about the company. Even when I started, The HP Way was known and alive at least in some pockets of the company. It was what inspired many to give our best despite the changing environment. After Carly, things only got worse with Mark Hurd. Cutting costs was the one and only trick he knew…
I worked at HP in the mid nineties and left right when Carly took over. Working at HP was the first real job I ever had (real in that I didn't need other jobs and had health insurance, etc.) The people that I worked with were, for the most part, pretty serious about the company. When I decided to leave there was shock all around. It was the first and only time that co-workers approached me and said things like "Working here is really a career, it's not just another job. You should really think about staying." When I started, most of the people I worked with had been there at least five years and most more then ten. Several had been there their entire careers, starting off in entry-level positions and arcing up into management, then kind of descending into a holding pattern in my department (UX and MPE/iX platform support and management) until retirement.
But even then things were changing. By the time I left I had five managers to whom I directly reported. One of those managers was fired, as far as I could tell, because he didn't agree with the other four; sadly they were the one that made the most sense to me. Certainly that wasn't the HP way. There was suspicion among almost everyone about Carly Fiorina, not so much because she was a women, but because she didn't rise from the HP ranks and likely would be unfamiliar with the "HP way". Even at that late date, the "HP way" was something people talked about even if it was fading away.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#10The article links to the HP corporate culture booklet from 1980 written apparently by Hewlett. It's worth reading.
Can't fail to notice how successful a well-engineered company culture might be. The booklet gives pretty rational reasons for things like profit-sharing, stock sharing, company-sponsored medical insurance, management by objective and lack of micro-management, etc, all introduced by HP very early.