Home Leadership Turn Archives Me RampUp Solutions  
 

  • Categories

  • Archives
 

Ducks In A Row: Happy 100th Birthday, IBM

by Miki Saxon

IBM turns 100 this week, which is an impressive birthday for a person or a company, but it’s huge for a company that plays in the high tech world which counts years more like a dog does—seven to one. IBM not only plays, it wins.

It wins by constantly changing itself.

“Its ability to keep on re-inventing itself over the decades has been key to its survival.” –Bob Djurdjevic, of Annex Research

In the late 1980s IBM stumbled badly and over the next few years it became obvious that the stumble could be fatal.

IBM almost died because positive process had morphed into an ossified bureaucracy that was killing innovation.

In 1992, the recession and the company’s failure to keep up with its competitors resulted in a $5 billion loss, more than any U.S. company had ever experienced in a single year.

In 1995 Lou Gerstner was chosen to turn IBM around, but he didn’t focus on products, he focused on culture.

“Until I came to IBM, I probably would have told you that culture was just one among several important elements in any organization’s makeup and success—along with vision, strategy, marketing, financials, and the like… I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game—it is the game.”

Current IBM CEO Sam Palmisano is still focused on culture.

“I still come to work every day at a company with a unique ability to create — and continually recreate — a culture of innovation.”

The article is interesting, but Lou Gerstner’s book Who Said Elephants Can’t Dance is truly fascinating.

Pick up a copy if you believe in the importance of culture; read it if you don’t—I guarantee it will change your mind.

No person or company lives a century or more without a great culture—one that is strong enough to support the entity and flexible enough to grow and change as the world does.

Fickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

Leave a Reply

RSS2 Subscribe to
MAPping Company Success

Enter your Email
Powered by FeedBlitz
About Miki View Miki Saxon's profile on LinkedIn

Clarify your exec summary, website, etc.

Have a quick question or just want to chat? Feel free to write or call me at 360.335.8054

The 12 Ingredients of a Fillable Req

CheatSheet for InterviewERS

CheatSheet for InterviewEEs

Give your mind a rest. Here are 4 quick ways to get rid of kinks, break a logjam or juice your creativity!

Creative mousing

Bubblewrap!

Animal innovation

Brain teaser

The latest disaster is here at home; donate to the East Coast recovery efforts now!

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation or call 00.733.2767. $10 really really does make a difference and you'll never miss it.

And always donate what you can whenever you can

The following accept cash and in-kind donations: Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, Red Cross, World Food Program, Save the Children

*/ ?>

About Miki

About KG

Clarify your exec summary, website, marketing collateral, etc.

Have a question or just want to chat @ no cost? Feel free to write 

Download useful assistance now.

Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.

Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
while $10 a month has exponential power.
Always donate what you can whenever you can.

The following accept cash and in-kind donations:

Web site development: NTR Lab
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.