Unclever...
That sounds pretty good. As a Fiorina-spin, I like it.
Just one problem... Carly inherited HP Labs. The same Labs that your good friend, Barge, knows only too well INVENTED the precursor to web services. The same Labs that took a leading role in early (and even some recent) research and involvement with trusted computing... only to watch as Dell (the mainstream player) made a BIG DEAL out of "trusted platform modules." Does ANYONE recall an HP conference call in which the words "trusted platform modules" came up BEFORE Dell's big announcement. (The handwriting, for crimeny's sake, had been on the wall for a while. Why HP couldn't get off the dime faster than DELL is amazing to me... given HP's "legacy" involvement with trusted computing.)
You know, there's going to be a lot of PENDULUM-swinging and axe-grinding in the coverage about Carly in the days and weeks to come. I have no sharp object to grind. Well, not entirely true. I happened to have read and relised "The HP Way." And the approach that Hewlett and Packard took remains a GOOD MODEL for corporate governance and management.
She is HARDLY the only one to blame, though, for HP's drift toward mediocrity and me-too-ness. Even some of Hewlett and Packard's best "cultural" ideas had calcified.
But, when she stepped in front of that famous garage and CLAIMED the legacy of Bill Hewlett and David Packard... she portrayed herself in a certain light. It turns out that light has not been particularly flattering.
When Ann Livermore was named as one of the early candidates for the LAST round that ended up picking Carly, I cheered. Because I knew for a fact that Ann knew about the Labs' work on trusted computing. But, it didn't happen.
But, more important than all of the above was Carly's insistence on taking over CPQ. The history of BIG MERGERS in technology is an interesting and checkered one. In fact, I'm reading an as yet unpublished paper right now about the VERY SPOTTY history of big M & A in the enterprise software world. Ug-ly.
Best Regards,
c m
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