I think something else is missing here, though. HP had great products, so I don't think that you can necessarily do the "HP Way" in a company where the products that the company makes (or their services) are not seen as valuable and/or worthwhile by the employees.
Is the HP Way still relevant today?
21–30 of 34 posts
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#22I think something else is missing here, though. HP had great products, so I don't think that you can necessarily do the "HP Way" in a company where the products that the company makes (or their services) are not seen as valuable and/or worthwhile by the employees.
The HP calculator story pops up here occasionally. They bet huge on it and it paid off hugely. Every scientist and engineer threw away their slide-rule and bought one for a large chunk of change. The design is still iconic.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#23Considerably 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!
No idea how the Swiss Micro calculators don't end up getting sued.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#24Considerably 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!
No idea how the Swiss Micro calculators don't end up getting sued.
I suspect because there's no-one left at HP who even remembers their legacy. Or those few that do are happy to see it live on.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#25Considerably 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!
It's easy to blame Carly Fiorina for HP's decline, she was leading the company during the downturn of the 2000s. That said, I don't think it's entirely fair: that was a tough time all around! Many companies went belly-up during the dot-com bust[0], like MCI Worldcom, Gateway, etc. Looking back, it seems like her decision to double-down on computing hardware (servers, desktops, laptops, printers, etc.) and Intel techn…
I agree with this:
Carly was a terrible leader but she, in a sense, was selected for her known personality by a system that had already gone off the cliff. A number of books came out around that time about the HP board and its internal/external conflicts.
I had a job for a while watching the current HP for technological and business developments and it was like being a gawker at a side show.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#26I think something else is missing here, though. HP had great products, so I don't think that you can necessarily do the "HP Way" in a company where the products that the company makes (or their services) are not seen as valuable and/or worthwhile by the employees.
I think it goes hand in hand. Employees who are proud of their company will do their best to make outstanding products, or provide excellent services.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#27Considerably 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!
How about the German idiot Apotheker that blow out all the WebOS equipment for fire sale prices. Thats fine, he limited losses. But at that point WebOS had acquired some market share by doing this. Then he said: "We discontinue WebOS" WebOS was a good mobile OS. An excellent MobileOS. The hardware was great. I had a very tiny one with excellent look, feel and haptic. WebOS could now be a major mobile operating system…
It’s actually a really nice element to the LG TV’s from the last 3-4 years, along with the “Magic Remote”.
Super intuitive compared to Samsung, Vizio, Sony, and any other TV interface I’ve seen.
A small part of me was glad to see WebOS live on doing something!
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's easy to blame Carly Fiorina for HP's decline, she was leading the company during the downturn of the 2000s. That said, I don't think it's entirely fair: that was a tough time all around! Many companies went belly-up during the dot-com bust[0], like MCI Worldcom, Gateway, etc. Looking back, it seems like her decision to double-down on computing hardware (servers, desktops, laptops, printers, etc.) and Intel techn…
I agree with this: Carly was a terrible leader but she, in a sense, was selected for her known personality by a system that had already gone off the cliff. A number of books came out around that time about the HP board and its internal/external conflicts. I had a job for a while watching the current HP for technological and business developments and it was like being a gawker at a side show.
Carly was a terrible leader
That's putting it mildly. In terms of both jobs and shareholder value destroyed, she has a decent shot at the title of "Worst CEO Ever", of any company.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#29Strange article. The author's company does advertising analytics. The HP Way was for a company that worked on hard problems and insisted on quality products.
I was once told by an HP employee, pre-collapse, that they did not use the term "bug" internally. They use the term "defect". One does not ship products with defects.
Re: Is the HP Way still relevant today?
#30Strange article. The author's company does advertising analytics . The HP Way was for a company that worked on hard problems and insisted on quality products. I was once told by an HP employee, pre-collapse, that they did not use the term "bug" internally. They use the term "defect". One does not ship products with defects.
Not my company: a company I work for. I don't own it!
Are you implying that companies that don't work on "hard" problems can't be guided by meaningful values?
Also, quite a lot of the things we work on are actually quite tricky, from a computer science point of view...