Conference 7.286::digital

    ref .0
    > It seems that everywhere I go, restrooms especially, I see signs of
    
    I think the only way to solve this is not to go to restrooms :-)
    
    just kidding, just kidding ...
    

    RE .0
    
    I don't know whether or not you're naive, but what you're seeing in
    Digital right now is pretty much what happens at any company going
    through what we're going through.  It's real traumatic when people
    start losing their jobs, and morale gets real low as a pervasive
    negativism sets in.
    
    My belief is that those who survive the next two rounds of layoffs
    (yes, I think there'll be a summer round and a fall/winter round) will
    go through some rough times adjusting to the "new" Digital, and over
    time will start seeing improvements that will get them (us?) to
    thinking it's a worthwhile place to work again.  The company won't
    "die", but it will also not be the same place it was back in the "good
    old days" that everyone seems to be yearning for.
    
    I also believe that one of the greatest casualties of the "new" Digital
    will be these Notes conferences ... but I guess that's a topic for a
    different note.
    
    ... Bob
    

    
    
    AFTER 10/01/92 .... THINGS WILL CHANGE ""BIGTIME"" DEC WILL STILL BE
    AROUND.... BUT IT WILL NEVER BE THE PLACE TO WORK IT ONCE WAS......
    
    There are many other companies that would be more than glad to over
    take DEC ... this is why it must change and change ultra-fast.. before
    it is too late .. but it's very sad to say that many of us will not be 
    here to see it.
    
    len

I've worked for two companies that ultimately ended up in bankruptcy.  I
left both just before it happened in both cases.  (Alright, take that as a
hint if/when I leave Digital ;-)

After a while, you start noticing patterns, and start recognizing feelings. 
Both have happened for me here at Digital.  Things are looking and feeling
*VERY* familiar.

FWIW, one of those companies that went belly up went on to restore itself
to profitability.  Yes, it's a whole different company now.  I haven't been
back to see what it's like there now.  I have no doubt that it's a
different place, but I also have no idea as to whether it's a nicer place. 
It could be.

Will Digital survive?  Maybe so, maybe not.  The answer doesn't come from
what we'd like the future to hold, and no amount of wishing real hard will
change things.  What will change things is a conscious effort to change
things.  It helps if that effort starts at the top.

Will the Digital way of life survive?  Probably not.  By my meager
experience, it's already gone.  Will the new company be a worse place to
work?  Maybe so, maybe not.  You know, it is possible for the "new Digital"
to be an entirely different place to work than the "old DEC", but still be
just as nice a place to work.  There isn't just one way to make a nice
workplace.

There are very few sure things here.  The only sure thing that I can think
of is that if we all sit around, assuming that everything will be just fine
and fix itself, doing nothing else to turn things around, it'll just keep
getting worse.  Everything else is up for grabs.

    DEC was a good place to work when I started and in the last 16 years
    has continually gotten to be a more prestigious name in the industry. 
    At his point in my career here the quality of my benefits package
    continues to erode, I'm threatened by the spectre of impending waves of
    lay-offs now, as we all have, for 8 or 9 months with still more in the
    near future.  Yet, in my opinion, DEC is still a good place to work.  I
    enjoy the people I work with.  The quality of my life will suffer
    considerably should I get selected for the next 'package'.  But...as a
    co-worker used to say many years ago...I was looking for a job when I
    found this one.

>    Is DEC going to die? 

	DEC died several years ago. The Digital that replaced it is
	different, and will change even more.

				Tom_K

    
    	The "Country Club" days are over!    People must work now.
    
    B.A.

    I have been through this twice before, first with an old established
    company, and then with a new com company (7 years old).  methods used
    were different, but the outcome was the same: fewer workers, with more
    work to do, and most importantly, the friendly management that cared
    was replaced by bean counters who only know today's profit and care not
    for tomorrow in any way.  Digital like both of these other companies,
    will survive, however, it may well be very different and colder than
    what we know now.  We would all like to believe that the company cares
    about its workers welfare, but at least for now, Digital cannot afford
    to, and it does not sit well with most people. IMHO.

    Some of these notes talk about a second wave of layoffs. What do people
    know about the second wave?
    
    Tom
    

    The company I worked for, for 6 years, before coming to Digital went
    thru this kind of stuff.  It was very painful for all peons involved. 
    Maybe some management suffered as well but we didn't really see it.  We
    were promised that things would get better and life would be good once
    again.  
    
    What emerged as a result was a cold, calculating work place
    where you as an individual didn't matter.  You were a warm body and you
    were there to do a job.  Like it or not.  We had Notes there too..
    after the re-adjustment people didn't note any more.  Many people left
    because the climate had gotten too insufferable!.. I left for the same
    reasons.  
    
    I think if you motivate people, make them feel good about
    themselves and their contribution to the company they will do good
    work.  After cracking the whip once too often you may find that it
    comes back to bite you.. 
    
    I am keeping my fingers crossed that the necessary changes at Digital 
    will not make it a place where the good people suffocate and the brown 
    nosers flourish..
    
    Life goes on..
    
    Suzan

>What do people know about the second wave?
>Tom
    
The same things you know.

    RE .9
    
    >> Some of these notes talk about a second wave of layoffs. What do people
    >> know about the second wave?
    
    Well, since I was one of those noters ... nobody knows anything about
    it.  I've read in a couple of different places (one being the Boston
    Globe, I believe) speculation about another round of lay-offs after KO
    retires in October.  But that's all it is ... speculation.  I tend to
    believe it, but I wouldn't get too worked up about it.
    
    ... Bob
    

    About six years ago, it became obvious (and was even stated explicitly
    to me by a manager) that pleasant lies were more acceptable than
    unpleasant truths in the "new Digital".  I have seen the cycle go round
    again in this site, but from what I hear, much of Digital still wants
    "good news only".  This is not the company I started with 16 years ago. 
    It can never be that again.  For the sake of those who are left, I hope
    it can be successful in its new form.
    
    fwiw,
    
    Dick

    re:.14
    (nice name!)
    
    In 1976, when I started, my first manager built golf clubs in his
    office.  We selected which customer would get service next by throwing
    a dart at the open call list.  My first customer meeting was done on
    the golf course.
    
    6 months later our customers were demanding our equipment.  I
    personally AVERAGED 70 hours a week for 8 years.

    Is something being missed?  Don't think so; what seems to be happening
    is the throes of a very large company undergoing changes -- that's
    obvious.  What may be appearing on the walls are the despairs of some
    of those who for whatever reason cannot change also.  This is a subject
    that continues to be discussed in these forums, and keeps coming back! 
    Memories of how DEC was are held by many of us, and they are dear. 
    However, it's kind of like aging as people -- it happens, and we need
    to adapt.  The tree-huggers will suffer.  The flexible and optimists
    will survive.  It may be that the old DEC might return, but only after
    we reach the stage of profitability we once enjoyed.
    
    One of my favorite industry publications, a freebie, is Industry Week. 
    It offers a panaramic view of industry at large in the context of this
    very issue -- companies (and schools, and governments, and service
    organizations) undergoing changes in ways that make them competitive. 
    That's all that's going on here.  When we were the only game in town,
    we could afford to be the "old DEC".  There's only one way to get back
    there...
    				/wlb

    re: .16
    
    	the more things change the more they stay the same...
    
    
    	once the "NEW DEC" becomes profitable again, people will look
    around and say "this is the way it used to be...!!!" 
    
    	There is sometimes a lot of wisdom in the old adage
    
    		"If it ain't broke, don't fix it..."
    
    	But there are people in DEC who for whatever reason, are forever
    having to use a new process to do something that some of us
    old timers have been doing quite sucessfully for years without
    any process...we just do what needs to be done...no process..no
    buy ins from special interest, no wait on this group or that group
    to get their act together...just go do what needs to be done...
    
    

Country club?

Lessee: ...

Oh, nevermind.  I was about to display a litany of eight of the last nine years,
which included all the traditional overtime and working through holidays.  Let's
not and pretend I did.

The point is that if the Country Club days are gone, then fine, because I can
use the rest.

    re-1,
    
    	I guess I should have said "Some of us have to work now"!.  I have
    no doubt about people busting chops..but then again...I've seen the
    other side as well.
    
    B.A.