Conference 7.286::digital

    I want to thank you for your note.  I do think that the old Digital has
    been slipping away from us for some time now, and I think there are a
    lot of folks who have tried, in my opinion without much success, to
    keep whatever we mean by "old DEC" alive.

    For whatever reasons, the Digital of today is not much like the one I
    joined more than a decade ago.  We used to have fun, we worked around
    the clock but loved it, and we grew.  Now, the fun is gone, we're still
    working as hard or harder (but perhaps not smarter), and the growth
    years are gone.  Perhaps the problem is that we grew too much, too
    fast.  I've been convinced for a long time that the greatest enemy we
    faced isn't IBM or our other competitors, but ourselves.  We provide
    ourselves with countless obstacles to selling (and I presume to
    building products as well).

    And now we are paying the price.

    If you find Digital, please let us know.

    Steve

    The "old DEC" was banished, it did not slip away.
    
    "Pushback" became unpopular instead of sought-after, 
    
    "Do the right thing" was used as an euphemism for "do my own thing", 
    
    Flannel shirts were replaced by ties,
    
    Polished wood and asphalt tile floors were replaced by wall-to-wall
    carpets,
    
    Cubes for executives were replaced by glassed in work areas,
    
    "Open Door" came to mean "leave when you want" instead of "I am
    available".
    
    These changes happened when we hired many people and failed to
    adequately assure that we really shared values with them before we gave
    them authority.  It takes hard work and dedication to maintain a
    community's values, it doesn't happen automatically.  
    
    We hired MBA's fresh out of school who had not been mellowed by working
    near the base of the organization.   They emphasized what they were
    taught, quantitative analysis and formal control systems.  Then we
    asked "Where is the humanity?"
    
    We hired managers from other organizations which had very different
    styles.  We assumed that because we tolerated different styles, they
    would too.  Then we asked "Why is Digital becoming more hierarchical?"
    
    We promoted good individual contributors into management positions for
    which they lacked the emotional maturity and psychological versatility. 
    Then we asked "Where is our technical talent going?  Why are there so
    many Johnny-One-Notes around?"
    
    We built monolithic organizations which were based on some professional
    discipline instead of business needs.  We put all Engineers together,
    all 'business types' together, all Salespersons together, all
    Accountants together, all Lawyers together, then we wondered why there
    was so much infighting.  
    
    We *are* the "old DEC".  If we want to restore the values of the
    environment we loved, we will have to stop being passive.  We can't
    wait for KO or anyone else to "do the right thing".  We must, as
    individuals, keep the faith by demonstrating what "pushback" and "do
    the right thing" and "open door" mean in the new environment.  I, for
    one, find that to be my "fun" these days.
    
    We also must remember that we are no longer twenty and thirty years
    old, but forty and fifty.  Our physical stamina may be less than
    before, but our emotional maturity must have improved (or else we
    stopped learning).  Let's use our learning to teach, coach, counsel,
    advise, and otherwise support those who will someday have to replace
    us.
    
    Regards,
    
    Dick

    Thanks for this note guys!
    It just happened that in late November I went to my 20 year
    anniversary Dinner.
    
    Pier Carlo Falotti (Mr DIGITAL Europe and +20 year veteran himself)
    used EXACTLY the same words as .0 (the old digital, the hard work,
    the fun....)
    The good news is that he added at the end of the speach something
    like:
    " Make sure as managers or non-managers that the "new guys" can
    have the same fun as we had. Give them the freedom we had, Let
    them make mistakes as we did, but support them......"
    I trust that Pier_Carlo knew what he was talking about and that
    he didn't say so just to please the audience. (He doesn't have to)
    I also understand that at his level of control (ca 6 steps above
    my level) he might not see tough "new DEC" reality as I see
    and FEEL it..
    BUT
    I guess it's still worth trying to keep the "old DEC" alive
    within the new DIGITAL........
    until I receive the "package".
    /fred

    re: .2
    
    Your note was one of the best summaries of the changes, and reason for
    these changes, that I've seen in a long time.
    
    I'm heartened that you've come to a positive attitude - *WE* are the
    people who can make a difference. I believe we have a responsibility to
    do exactly that if we want the "old DEC" to reappear in any shape or
    form.
    
    Everyone should re-read .2, and think about what they can DO to affect
    a positive change!!!!
    
    Thorgan

    
    Re: .2
    
    That is a very good summary of a number of things which 
    contribute to the Digital we have today.
    
    In fairness to everyone, however, the problem is age old
    and many companies have experienced it before.  When a
    new company, or any organiztion for that matter, grows 
    rapidly it makes many choices based on information available
    at the time and in retrospect often appears as what was
    expedient.  In doing that, those choices create future
    problems that will one day have to be faced and solved.
    Now we are there and will have to solve them.  Digital is
    no exception and, like any other company, learns by experience.
    So let's not waste too much energy beating ourselves up.
    We'll need that energy to apply to the solutions.
    
    Steve
    

RE 1338.2 

>    We hired MBA's fresh out of school who had not been mellowed by working
>    near the base of the organization.   They emphasized what they were
>    taught, quantitative analysis and formal control systems.  Then we
>    asked "Where is the humanity?"

I don't think the company has many MBA's at all, certainly none at the top.

I have an MBA (as well as a comp engineering degree) and I'm tired of all 
the MBA bashing.  I learned valuable skills in getting my MBA and it did 
not make me any less competent.  In fact, with all the case studies I've 
had, I feel that I am a much more valuable employee.  It's time Digital
started recognizing that EDUCATION does not cause one to be a good or bad 
employee.  

    After all how would it sound if we started saying we should get rid of all 
    the people with engineering degrees? (jokingly)

    re: .5...amen.  These times are tough, but we have to stop feeling sorry
    for ourselves and the fact that things aren't the way they used to be. 
    
    It's been said before...there's no such thing as a free lunch.  Life in
    the '80s was a "free-lunch" of sorts, which is why Reaganomics became so
    popular.  Now Reagan is gone...and so are the '80s...and the "bill" has
    been put on the table.  It's time to "pay" for that "lunch".  It
    doesn't matter if you didn't "eat" or didn't know the "check" hadn't
    already been paid.  We all sat at the "table" and expected to be "fed".
    Now it's time to "pick up the tab".  The sooner we pay the bill, the
    sooner we can get on with the rest of our day.  We need to stop fighting
    and complaining about who's to blame.  It's to all our advantages to
    collectively chip-in, pay the bill, and move on.
    
    Rest assured...Digital will one day be mighty again.  This is still a
    people company.  If it wasn't, you wouldn't see a "package" associated
    with this lay-off.  Sure, there are more things hanging over our heads
    now, but that's not just because of Digital...look at the world around
    you.  You can't blame DEC for everything that's gone on to get us where
    we are now.  If there's one good thing about all of this, it has served
    to unify people within the corporation.  All of a sudden, we all have
    something in common...management and workers alike.  We are all
    experiencing something that affects the very roots of our lives.  As
    a result, we are brought closer to one another in trying to cope with
    these times.  That bond was an integral part of the old Digital...and
    it is what will save us and get us through these trying times.  To quote
    a famous singer-songwriter, "these are the good old days"...if we want
    them to be.
    
    Bob

    re .2

    As succinct and thoughtful a statement of where we are as I've seen in
    quite a while.

    re .6

    I wouldn't take the MBA bashing personally. When I got to DEC, bean
    counting was just setting in. Where once we had a vision of a summit
    to strive for, we got a pile of beans instead. Now we're trying to
    de-bean.

    The _only_ thing that keeps me here is the vision of Digital as I knew
    it before coming here, and when I started here -- all those positive
    qualities we've talked about. Every job I've left, I've left because I
    felt there was nothing more I could accomplish there in the roles
    available to me. Here, there are things to accomplish everywhere. One
    person, even among 120,000, can still make a difference here. That is a
    quality to be nurtured and cherished. It is the keystone to believing
    in our ability to accomplish anything we want to.

    /Peters

    re .6
    
>I have an MBA (as well as a comp engineering degree) and I'm tired of all 
>the MBA bashing.  I learned valuable skills in getting my MBA and it did 
>not make me any less competent.  In fact, with all the case studies I've 
>had, I feel that I am a much more valuable employee.  It's time Digital
>started recognizing that EDUCATION does not cause one to be a good or bad 
>employee.  
    
    The problem is not with education.  The problem is attitudinal, and the
    MBA, for better or worse, is within Digital its symbol.  It represents
    here metrics gone mad.  It stands for moronic management pennypinching
    and measuring and counting us to death.  It embodies the absurdity of
    empiricism trying (and partly succeeding) to dominate the higher values
    and goals of the company, instead of serving them.
    
    Your MBA may well have enhanced your skills as an employee.  That is
    not at stake.  What is at stake is that so many MBAs inculcate and
    bring with them the attitude that if it can't be measured then it isn't
    worth anything.  This attitude is directly at odds with the philosophy
    and culture of Digital.  It is hurting us, and our customers.

re: .9 and others

When are these MBA types supposed to have started their invasion of the
company?  The vast majority of the top managers and VPs that i see mentioned
have been around as long as i have (11 years) at least.  Are the people that
believe this is the problem 20 year veterans or something?  I'm curious, if
so, of when you think the turning point came when this influx of MBAs started
to have a big impact.
								paul

    
    As the initiator of the MBA rathole, let me do some clarification.
    
    1) Digital never went crazy for MBA's like some other comapnies.
    
    2) Nobody suggests that an MBA is 'bad' or 'useless'.  My point,
    although directed at MBA's, could have been applied to any degree
    holding class where the mistake of handing too much authority too early
    in someone's career could be made.  That rarely happened to
    engineering or computer science graduates, but it did indeed happen to
    some MBA's I know.
    
    3) I have no personal prejudice against the MBA degree.  My complaint
    is that some managers in Digital made job assignments based on the
    assumption that someone with an MBA needed no seasoning.
    
    Now, can we get back to the real issue? 
    
    	*What are WE going to do to restore and protect the values that
    	 WE feel are important to Digital?*
    

    re -1....I have a real problem with people who think that everything is
    gonna be just fine if we "restore and protect our values".  I don't
    even know what that means.  I've been around 19 years, and I never
    experienced the Digital that so many of you think is gone....where was
    it in the first place?  If you mean run-away engineering efforts with
    everyone having great fun in the sandbox....well I guess we had that
    
    I still think we are greatly restricted by amateur management at very
    high levels in this company.  As the "Fortune" magazine article
    says, we badly need some "Big Company" management.  To hell with the
    Digital mystic....we need to run a business.  

    re .12 by COOKIE::LENNARD 
    
    >                -< We need management.....not "values" >-

    >re -1....I have a real problem with people who think that everything is
    >gonna be just fine if we "restore and protect our values".  
    
    Nobody suggests that life is that simple.
    
    >... I don't even know what that means.  
    
    What it means to me is that 
    
    	a) When the numbers don't tell you what makes sense, what is 
    	   your 'gut' reaction?
    
    	b) When the numbers suggest that two alternative courses of action
    	   have the same ROI to within uncertainties, you ask yourself
    	   "What other differences are there?"
    
    	c) When there are no numbers to guide you, what do you use as a
    	   guide to decision?
    	   
    
    The values I have been discussing are nothing more than the
    more-or-less hidden assumptions we all make in our work life.
    
    Is it legitimate or not to question the boss's decision?
    
    Is substance more important than form?
    
    If the boss and the subordinate disagree, is there any recourse for the
    subordinate?
    
    
    I interpret amateur management as that based on an oversimplification
    of the facts of life, like:
    
    	If I keep my boss happy, I don't have to be productive.
    
    	Its ok to increase the costs of operation to make sure I have a job
    	next week.
    
    	I can have my cake and eat it too.
    
    	Last year's goals plus 5% are good enough, why should I kill myself
    	if there's no profit sharing?
    
    
    I suspect that some people use 'amateur management' to mean anything
    that departs from the military hierarchical model.  I will gleefully
    disagree with that!  Too many successful enterprises have left the
    pyramid behind and too many armies have lost battles and wars for that
    model to be convincing.
    
    Regards,
    Dick

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your flame-throwers and your supplies of rotten
eggs for my 2 � worth of observation and opinion:

=============================================================================

The slogan for the 1987 EIS Excellence event was:

			"Together we win"

The negative extrapolation of this can be expressed as:

			"Divided we loose"

Which worries me very much because of what I can see in Digital today.

We are according to industry soothsayers over-staffed and over administered.
We are not making enough profits. We are not dynamic enough. We are not 
efficient enough. These sentences describe the messages that are beeing
pointed in our direction FROM THE OUTSIDE.

So what do we do ? We start pointing fingers at each other. Employees are
blaming management. Management is blaming management. Management is blaming
employees. Employees are blaming each other.

We are getting into an "US" and "THEM" situation.

The point is that all parties are using the same arguments, they are just
pointing them in different directions. Management is complaining about 
employees, employees are complaining about management. Some blames K.O,
some fires at (no pun intended) Jack Smith.

			"Together we win ..."

I have a vision of a ship in the middle of an ocean.  The ship is
overcrowded with people and they are short on water and food. The ship is
leaking. The engine is not running because the technicians are arguing with
the captain over which way to go.

Occationaly currents and winds tend to move the vessel around and then
everyone starts expressing opinions of wether or not they are going in the
right direction. But the ship is really going nowhere.

While it may be desirable to AGREE on a course, it important to get the
priorities right. Unless SOMEONE "mans the pumps", the ship is going to be
a very poorly designed submarine in no time flat.

Let's get the water out of the ship and plug the holes instead of just
arguing about how to stay afloat. We do have a number of pepole who should
be able to set a course, to get the engine running, to get the ship
working. If they can't, they really don't belong onboard. If they can,
they deserve and need all the support that they can get.

Right now we should all address the first priorities. Once the first
priorities are sorted out (make the company competitive and profitable),
we can start giving feedback to the captain on which course would in our
opinion be the most desirable.

POINTING FINGERS AT EACH OTHERS WILL GET US EXACTLY NOWHERE, and will further
lead to conflicts between groups of employees and management.


			"Together we win ... ?"

Well, at least I hope so, and I also hope that I will be around to celebrate
the victory.

(Now, where are those darn pumps ? 3.rd lower deck you said, I'm on my way)

Stein_M

RE: .2

>    We hired MBA's fresh out of school who had not been mellowed by working
>    near the base of the organization.   They emphasized what they were
>    taught, quantitative analysis and formal control systems.  Then we
>    asked "Where is the humanity?"

Who's "We"?  I must have missed something here?  Suddenly Digital is hiring
people with MBA's?  And to think all this time I thought that Digital flew 
by the seat of their pants promoting incompetent managers from the ranks.
              :^)   :^)    :^)   :^)

RE: .9

>    Your MBA may well have enhanced your skills as an employee.  That is
>    not at stake.  What is at stake is that so many MBAs inculcate and
>    bring with them the attitude that if it can't be measured then it isn't
>    worth anything.  This attitude is directly at odds with the philosophy
>    and culture of Digital.  It is hurting us, and our customers.

This is a very naive statement.  What is hurting Digital today is the 
management - not all managers, but the ones who are in a position to 
effectively plan and organize change.  It's not the MBA's - it's the 
managers who have lead this company into the mess it's in today.  If we
had effective management, they would have seen the writing on the wall.

RE: .11

>   1) Digital never went crazy for MBA's like some other comapnies.

Thank you.  I was starting to  wonder if anyone realized this.  The truth is, 
Digital has not lost it's tradition of hiring from the ranks (qualified or
unqualified).  My MBA will get me no where - but my effectiveness in front
of customers as a sales support consultant will.  Isn't that what Digital
has always stood for? 

RE: .12

>    I still think we are greatly restricted by amateur management at very
>    high levels in this company.

I would have to agree.  I am not impressed with the skill and creativeness
of our management team within Digital.  I think we have been nurtured on the
idea of "those who propose... do" and "good idea - why don't you do it" 
attitudes.  Most managers I have dealt with or worked for in this company have
used this so called company philosophy as a scapegoat to evade their own
responsibilities as a manager.   

The good managers that I know, are frustrated with the whole system.  They
see the inadequacies of our higher level "Captains" who are supposedly
guiding this big ship.  Jack Smith has definitely taken command of his
$1 billion cost savings program.  Why can't we have this type of guidance
in other areas of Digital?  Why do the managers and executives wait until
the ship is taking on water before they act?

Someday the stockholders of this company are going to become very annoyed with
certain people that they have "elective" control over.  When that happens, 
whether good or bad, Digital will definitely lose it's traditions and 
values of the past.

-Keith 
               

re .15

>>   1) Digital never went crazy for MBA's like some other comapnies.
>
>Thank you.  I was starting to  wonder if anyone realized this.  The truth is, 
>Digital has not lost it's tradition of hiring from the ranks (qualified or
>unqualified).  My MBA will get me no where - but my effectiveness in front
>of customers as a sales support consultant will.  Isn't that what Digital
>has always stood for? 

We didn't go crazy for MBA's but we did go crazy for metrics. When a company
grows, metrics become necessary -- to see how we're doing financially, if
we're meeting our predicted performance, etc.

The problem was, we unleashed metrics and, all of the sudden, they became the
"objective determinant of performance." You beat your metrics, you were a "2"
performer, it didn't matter what else you did in your job. You didn't make your
metrics, it was a tooth-and-nail fight just to make it to a "3". (And if you
asked your manager what to do at every turn and their advice didn't work, you
were off the hook. "But <manager's name>, you _told_ me to do that." "Oh...")

Metrics became the "objective" substitute for "subjective" review of managers
by _their_ managers. I don't know about you, but I'll take a *subjective*
review any day. We all talk about doing each of us contributing to make
Digital a better and more productive place for all of us. The way we do that
is to start becoming *non-objective* (i.e., non-metric) in reviewing people.

Metrics are a measure of *business performance*, not *personal performance*.
I'm not saying we should throw metrics out the window -- that would cause
total chaos. But we do need to acknowledge that they are only part of the
equation. The day I see a manager make their metrics and _still_ get a poor
review, I'll believe that we are valuing the _quality_ of management. I hope
that day is coming soon.


/Peters

	I seem to remember awhile back, that KO said to make change come
about in DEC, takes time, it does not happen overnight, also you have
to keep plugging away at it, do not give up, if enough people do this it
will happen. And for the better. 


My .2 Cents