Conference 7.286::digital

    
    A Ferrari
    
    My boy to grow and drive for Ferrari
    
    A tour of the Ferrari factory
    
    Ferrari to win the world championship
    
    I am a very materialistic person ever since my dad died a couple of
    years ago. He worked his guts out all his life and died after he had
    paid all his debts and raised 8 kids on a single wage!!
    
    My values were generated by my father's lifestyle and work ethic.... we
    must seem greedy to people but lie is short so aim high.
    
    CRIM
    
    ps I am also going to spend at leats a year working for the UN to help
    improve some of the under-developed countries when my house is paid for
    just to balance my money-grabbing outlook.

    Good health and the time to enjoy it.

    .0 poses the question: "Is Digital a vital process to us?", with the
    answer "I think NOT!".  And then makes some general observations about
    Digital... and life.
    
    OK, for what it's worth...
    
    Digital *was* not only a major part of my life, as any job is, but
    it *was* much, much more.  Notice the past tense.
    
    When I came to Digital 17 years ago, I had been in New York City for
    a year, working for another company.  First time away from home, and
    thousands of miles.  What I found at Digital was a community, and an
    extended family.  We were all young transplants from other places,
    without direct roots to the place we lived, and the social network
    that "home" provides.  My best freinds were DECies, we ate, drank,
    and slept DEC.  I met my first wife at DEC... and my second.
    
    As I moved through what was once a very fluid company, from Software
    Services, into Engineering, from NY, to MA, to NH -- many of those
    friends followed the same roads.  When I became chronically ill, it
    was my health that came first to those I worked with, and for... not
    the job.
    
    A half-dozen years or so ago, I couldn't imagine not working the rest
    of my career at DEC, or that it would not be an integral part of my
    life.
    
    But over the last half-dozen or so years, DEC changed.  And as I've
    approached 40, I've changed as well.
    
    It wasn't the hard times that caused the change -- before the hard
    times came, there was a shift from being a place where we all lived
    and breathed DEC, to a bloated, balkanized collection of groups all
    pulling against each other, with no sense of overall purpose (the
    last vestage of this was when we *all* knew we were the VAX/VMS company)
    and only interested in their little peice of the pie.  From the top
    there started a slow creeping change as the bean counters tried to
    make employees interchangeable parts.  The MBA's in their $1000 suits
    took to heart the Harvard Business School concept of a temporary
    workforce.   We've been out-of-control since Gordon Bell quit in
    disgust over his inability as CTO to make the company respond to
    change (of course, that's my characterization of why Godon quit).
    
    The hard times simply brought these problems to a rapid, crushing
    collapse of loyalty and cohesion.  The company cuts benefits, and
    tries to tell us that being screwed out of your pension is a "good"
    thing... but of course it *is* a good thing if you plan to leave
    the company (and infinitely cheaper and more predictable than a
    defined benefit plan).  It cuts vacation time.  It outsources basic
    functions.  It hires ex-DECies as contractors who were the *deadwood*
    that we layed off, for six figure consulting incomes.  Being profitable
    is meaningless in this jungle, we reward the money losing groups, and
    create self-fulfilling prophecies by predicting a failure, cutting
    investment based on the prediction, leading the marketing push to
    tell or customers a product is dead, and then noting how the
    prediction was right.
    
    A couple years ago, after a life threatening stay in the hospital,
    something dawned on me that was sad, and yet liberating... no matter
    how hard I worked, and no matter what I contributed to the company:
    
    	1) It had no effect on if *my* job would exist in 6 months.
    	2) I wouldn't get a raise anyway (this was during the salary
    	   freeze).
    	3) I woudn't get promoted either (among other reasons ;-), there
    	   was also a promotion freeze that was not well publicized).
    	4) Burned-out 1 performers didn't get rewarded any better than
    	   2 performers who worked 9-5, and golfed every Tuedsay afternoon.
    
    and more importantly, I realized that I wanted to be able to enjoy
    my home, my daughter, and my wife.
    
    There are still some great people at DEC, but frankly, they are a
    dying breed (sorry if anyone is offended).  I'm slowly putting down
    some roots where I am, and making non-DEC freinds.  I'm working less
    hours that I ever have in my career, and am doing the best work that
    I've ever done - just not as much of it.
    
    I'm no longer as intensly loyal to DEC, or emotionally concerned
    about it's future.  I'm grateful to DEC for the opportunities that
    it gave me over the years, and for the pretty good living I make
    for someone with only a couple years of community college education.
    I'm now delivering 100% to DEC, no longer 150%.  I'm just pushing
    ahead doing what I'm told, and what my skills allow.  If DEC
    fails... life will go on.  If I'm layed off... life will go on
    (perhaps as one of those six-figure-income contractors).  When I
    go on vacation I *don't* dial in to the office to read my mail ;-)
    I've got a suntan this year!
    

    Fred's experiences reflect mine - growing nearer to 40 (or in my case
    passing that date last Jan.) sobers your expectations and made me more
    realistic about a lot of things. 
    
    People are important, family and friends are very important, work is
    necessary and to be enjoyed where possible.
    
    In some ways DEC was a family to lots of folks I knew, but they have
    died or moved on in outlook. No Corporation ever gave birth in a
    hospital side-room and made me cry with delight.
    
    /a

    There are a lot of things that are important to me.  But, after much
    thinking, two things stands out above the rest.  To me, justice and 
    fairness are the most important to me (and unfortunately all too rare
    in this muddled world).

    For some reason this reminds me of the following story:
    
    In the 1970's a radio reporter in Washington phoned around all of the
    Ambassadors asking what they'd like for Christmas. 
    
    Almost universally, they replied along the lines "Peace and an end to
    world hunger", except the Brit, who replied that he'd quite like a pair
    of slippers, thank you.

    I urge every movie going fan to see the recently released movie: "JACK"
    with Robbin Williams.  Pay attention to the ending of the movie and
    think about it and how it may relate to you.  Then if you care to, note
    your comments here and how it relates to this base note.
    
    Thanks

    
    	Does neatness count?
    
    	And will you be taking points off for spelling/grammar mistakes?
    

    
    
    respect.

    Spend the time with people that will attend your funeral!
    Work hard when you work Play hard when you Play the rest will
    take care of itself.  Seems that alot of people want to find security
    in the company they work for Wrong! you find it in yourself your own
    ablities to do a job and learn from your errors.  The single most
    important thing is attitude. Sure it is hard to keep a good attitude
    when all we know and love seem to be falling down around us but what 
    difference will it make to you in a hundred years anyway!  This place
    has changed in the past 19 1/2 years that I have been working here,
    most people are quick to point out the bad stuff but there have been
    some good or I would have been gone.  Think a full minute, there have
    been many people that have come and gone and they leave a little of
    themselves when they leave.  What they leave may be good or not good,
    but each of us are richer for have known them, we learn.
    It seems the good of a person dies with them but the bad goes on
    forever.  If you are in a rut get out (a rut is a grave without ends)
    you can, you did have something to do before you where here.
    
    Fronnie Jones  
                            

    What I want is the following:
    
    1. A loving relationship with my wife, which I believe I am getting
    closer to attaining after 17 years of marriage.  And not just the
    words, but to really mean it.
    
    2. A wonderful life for my daughter, with a loving husband at her side.
    
    3. Lastly, for myself, my family and everyone possible, I want us to be
    able to meet our Maker and to be able to say the same things that Saint
    Paul said in II Timothy:
    
    "I have fought the good fight, I have run the good race."
    
    If you can truly say this, and know in your heart that it is true, then
    all else is pretty small in conparison.
    
    My 2 cents.
    
    Chuck

    Life.
    Health.
    Love.
    Security.
    Fun.

    Reading this thread reminds me of something.  I couple of years ago,
    my father died.  I visit his grave now and then.  I have yet to see
    a tombstone that says "He/she had a wonderful career at..."  That says
    it all to me.
    
    Gil

    
    
    re .13
    
    That reminds me of something I read in one of those wisdom books that
    said 
    
    Nobody ever died saying "I wish I'd sent more time at the office".
    
    How true.  .3 really said it all. Ditto. Last year was the first year
    that I took a vacation and didn't dial in to see if I could help or
    if things were under control. Scary thing was, I didn't think of work
    at all, not once, and that was a big first for me.  Maybe it's age.
    Maybe it's reality. Either way, it's about time......

My work is not the most important thing in my life, but my workplace is where I
spend a fifth of it.  DEC used to be like a second family, a place where you
could find some of all those other things folks have posted here (except,
perhaps, the Ferrari); a place I would go even if they didn't pay me, just for
the fun of it.  Now it's just where I go so that I have $$ for the other 4/5 of
my life.  (Well, the fun isn't _completely_ gone, it's just a lot rarer).

	:Karl.

    I think this is a good place for an exit. Tonight I log off for the
    last time at Digital. I think I leave because I have figured out what
    is important to me, and as previous noters have pointed out, it's not
    the company you work for.
    
    What's important to me - hope, for the future and what I can contribute
    to it, meaningful work, where I feel useful and valued, good health
    both for me and my family, a few good friends who can cry on my
    shoulder and me on theirs when needed  - and, of course, a good horse
    and a good guitar. 
    
    I am like .3, it took well over forty years to understand a few
    important things, but as one of my colleagues said - "you live to
    learn", and it may take another forty years to figure out a few more
    important things. But at least for now, I think I am taking a step
    finally in the pursuit of WOW.
    
    - a first a last time noter..
    

    LOVE!

    
    		I hope to find the strength within myself 
    		to improve who I am.
    
    
     		Potsy

    RE .-1
    
    	You've reached the SERENITY....
    
    
    		... we should have had a loooong time ago ...
    
    
    JPC

  Someone raised an important point in one of the early replies. That Digital
drew a lot of people from far away and that for these people, Digital was like
a second family. I was one of those people and in the 1980's, about 1/3 of my
coworkers were in this situation.
  There has been a lot of discussion in here about how Digital no longer feels
like a second family, but not much discussion about the other side of the coin,
which is how to achieve a sense of community outside Digital. 
  The problem for me is that I have not been able to achieve a sense of com-
munity outside Digital. The dilemma is that even if I don't work overtime, I
don't have huge amounts of energy to put into the task of building a sense of
community outside Digital. Another dilemma is the tradeoff: Do I commit myself
to a much longer commute and/or spend a fortune on housing in an attempt to
achieve a sense of community while staying with Digital? Do I choose a place
to live that has a strong sense of community and then make a career change to
a career that can be done within a reasonable commute of this location?
  Please don't tell me to telecommute. I have thought about this, but this too
would require a career change (though less of a change than the above) and,
more importantly, feels very isolating to me. I know that the corporate tele-
commuting group keeps saying that telecommuting is not isolating, but I'm
not convinced.
  So to answer the question, the most important thing to me is a sense of
community. "Things" have no value to me except to the extent that they make
it possible to achieve something that I do value.

	I get my sense of community from friends who used to work at 
	Digital but now work elsewhere. Thru them, I meet other people, 
	in and out of the industry. Thru them, I fully expect at some
	point to find another place to work.

	It's not like it used to be, but frankly, I'm still having fun.
	My weekends are mine and I live for them. No company will ever
	own my time like Digital did in the '80's. Work is only a place
	where I make money that allows me to enjoy life just that little
	bit more.

						mike
						almost 16 years here!

    re: .21  (telecommuting & isolation)
    
    Just FYI...
    
    Telecommuting can be as isolating as you let it be.  Yes, you lose
    some face-to-face contact with coworkers.  And, yes, you lose some
    contact with the grapevines around (if there are enough grapes around
    to have a vine, that is... 8^( ).
    
    But...
    
    Telecommuting can increase contact with your family and friends (due to
    lack of wasted commuting hours, etc.).  It can help you build your life
    outside of Digital (a common theme in many of these notes).  And you
    can still exchange valuable bits of insight with coworkers through
    electronic means (how this is achieved is left as an exercise to the
    reader  ;^).
    
    So, telecommuting _can_ produce social interaction, but the face of it
    _does_ tend to change.
    
    -- Russ
       (who has been telecommuting for years from the glorious rural land
        of northcentral Maryland.  My office can contain 5 teddy bear hamsters
        [always], 2 cats [when hungrily eyeing the hamsters], 2 dogs, [when
    	attempting to herd the cats], 2 children [when attempting to herd
    	the dogs], and 1 wife [when attempting to herd the kids].  I ain't
    	exactly dying from loneliness out here!  8^)

    re: .21
    
    It's a tough nut to crack.  When we were young, when we were starting
    our careers, and when DEC commanded a sense of loyalty and purpose -
    the common bond was the company, our products, programming,
    engineering, amd our sense of common purpose.
    
    Well, now we aren't all that young.  The attraction of all night
    stands with a terminal, a couple gallons of Coke, and a couple
    pounds of peanut M&Ms has worn off.  We have no sense of common
    purpose.  There is no longer any sense that we are in control over
    our jobs, or that we can influence the direction - or fate - of
    the Company.
    
    So, how does a transplant become part of a community...  that's a tough
    one.  I guess the "easiest" way is to meet and marry someone from the
    area.  Instant roots in a way.  That's what happened to me with my
    second wife.
    
    Some other suggestions:
    
    	- Join a Church.  They typically love to have volunteers for
    	  various activities, and help to make a new commer welcome
    	  into their community.
    
    	- Find a hobby where enthusiasts get together locally.  There
    	  are lots of them around.
    
    	- Volunteer for a community group, or board.
    
    	- Join a actor/singer group.  I know people who belong to
    	  community theater, local community bands, choir groups,
    	  and even some professional theater groups have volunteer
    	  groups (like the American Stage Festival).
    
    	- Become a Mason (of course you'll need to find a Mason to
    	  sponser you).
    
    	- Join the Rotary Club.
    
    	_ Walk next door and introduce yourself to your neighbors.
    	  Invite them over to dinner, or a cook out.  I find that
    	  New Englanders have a tendancy not to make the first move
    	  in this respect... not that I'm any better, Charlie Christ
    	  lives across the street from me - and I've yet to walk
    	  over and invite him to a cookout :-)
    
    	- Volunteer as a coach, or help out with a local sports team
    	  (I guess I know a lot of people with coaching experience
    	  who have done this).
    
    	- Become a Republican (or in MA, a Democrat) and get active
    	  in politics.
    
    	- Go back to school at night.  You may meet a lot of well
    	  educated transplants trying to get their MBA's.
    
    	- Invite a coworker over for dinner and *don't* talk about
    	  work!
    
    But it ain't easy.  None of these things will come to you.  You have
    to actively seek them out, and be willing to be turned down (without
    feeling personally rejected).  New Englanders take about 30 years
    before they decide you're one of their own ;-)  Fortunately, there
    are a lot of transplants around who aren't so picky ;-)
    
    
    

    Integrity.
    
    John

    I'd like to say with some regret, that Digital is not important to me.  
    Other than a place to work and earn a paycheck, Digital has taken away from
    me my loyalty, devotion, and pride and to some extend my health.  I'm
    really sick of the TFSO's, lack of direction by the SLT, and hearing
    from our CEO that the Company's setback is only a "glitch".
    
    There are still too many managers that do not value employees and do
    not uphold the "Digital Ethics".  I worked for one such group in the
    past and I was treated unfairly (which I won't get into here).  Those
    people know who they are and what they tried to do.
    
    Life is just too short.  I really don't expect to have a career anymore
    or retire from Digital.  It's kind of a sad ending.  My friends, family 
    and health are what's important to me now.
    
    I hear there is "life after Digital".

    The old saying about being careful about what you wish for because
    you just might get it, has "come true" for Digital as a struggling
    corporation.
    
    For the last 4 or 5 years we, as employees, have been told to look 
    out for ourselves, that we should actively manage our own careers, 
    develop outside of these 4 walls, educate ourselves.  
    
    From the replies to this basenote, it seems we are and we have.
    
    And that, in my opinion, is a big reason why Digital can't seem to
    "break-through", make that big push that would get us really going
    again.  Without a sense of belonging, or feeling valued, the company
    will not get the 110% out of people that it used to, and that it now 
    so sorely needs.
    
    The "sum of our parts" would be so much more powerful....and instead
    all we see are individuals struggling along in their cubes, heads down,
    defensive, suspicious, or learning all they can while they're here,
    then leaving for bigger/better.  Neither scenario benefits this
    corporation, that's for sure.
    
    It's sad really... 
    
                      

    
      Digital is not the company it was when I started 19 years ago.  Back
    when I started, my father had already been working for Digital 16
    years.  He told me "if you work hard, you will be rewarded."  He told
    me of his visits from Ken, and how they were rewarded for taking
    chances and failing as well as succeeding.
    
      In 1991 my father retired with 30 years service.  I'm glad he left
    before DEC became Digital.  I was once a foolish youth who gave 150%,
    every day, I've taken 40 sick days in 19 years, and felt guilty if I
    took any.  But life has changed.  I've worked like a dog, earned my 
    undergrad and have 4 courses remaining for my MBA.  Digital, isn't my
    life, my wife, children, my brother, sisters, parents, & good friends
    are my life.
     
      I gave everything I had to DEC and got stiffed, I gave the same to
    Digital and the results are the same.  I've earned everthing I got,
    which is much less than I deserve  If I had mastered "Digital Politics", 
    I would have been better off.  I didn't, I won't, and I pay.
    
     I think the chances of my Father having a headstone that reads...
    
       "Worked for DEC (Digital) 30 years" are very slim.
    
     My wife, my kids, my family, God, nothing else matters
    
    Mark   
                                      

   re: .28

   Careful.  You start walking on the slippery slope of asking people if they
   actually DO anything that justifies inflated salaries (some corp.
   consultants that I have known...) and you never know where it will lead. 
   I mean, we may just start questioning the salaries of all those VPs (which
   no one seems to know what they do), and we can't have THAT, now can we?

   -- Sam

    
    
    
    
    
    The interesting theme to emerge from the previous 30 replies is not so
    much what is important, but what isn't! (DEC/DIGITAL)
    
    	In the beginnings of the crisis years we were encouraged to tighten
    our belts for the good of the company, and ultimately for those of us
    who still remained with the company.
    
    	It's always difficult to measure ones own performance, because one
    is invariably biased, but notwithstanding this lack of objectivity, I
    feel I've done my bit to help the company through it's lean times.
    
    	That was part of the old DEC culture. 
    
    	The company has welched on its part of the deal!(Thus far)
    
    	It has affected my health.
    
    	It has affected my attitude to my peers.
    
    	It has affected my attitude to my job.
    
    	It has intruded into my private life.
    
    	These issues are important to me.
    
    	How does one retrieve these things?
    
    	With only seven years to go, I feel that working for DIGITAL was
    turned into a gamble some years back, and that the stakes were adjusted
    heavily against the employee.
    
    	The chances of recovering the "lost" years are looking more and
    more remote.
    
    				Dave

    It sure seems to me that if you take a look back through these notes,
    there are some husbands, wives and children who probably are thankful
    that Digital is doing so poorly.
    
    After all they just got their spouses, mothers and fathers less
    dedicated to the job and more dedicated to them...
    
    Sounds good to me... too bad it took Digital's poor financials to bring
    this about though..
    
    

    * Harry chuckles

    re: -.1
    
    Bang-On!  
    
    It's a sad commentary, but accurate!
    
    Too bad no-one's listening......

        There are many companies who have not gone this route. Mostly in the
    service sector.

    re: .35
    
    Would it come to you as a surprise that someone IS listening? Don't
    think for a minute they aren't. I have it on good authority that
    someone IS listening, and are preparing to do something about the
    complaints heard round the world in various notes. Stay tuned...
    
    Bob

re.34:

A very good note but you spoil it all with phrases such as "MBA's in their
$1000 suits" and "you can't when companies are managed by the MBA types".

Dave.

re: .37
>    think for a minute they aren't. I have it on good authority that
>    someone IS listening, and are preparing to do something about the
>    complaints heard round the world in various notes. Stay tuned...
 

Heads up!  Incoming employee questionaire about corporate communications
to mollify management.

/m

I know a computer compnay which is being run by somebody who knew nothing
about computers but knew how to run a tobacco and biscuit company.  He even
bragged about not needing a vision to turn around the fortunes of the
faltering computer company.

For all practical purposes, he has done a remarkable job.
- Vikas

    
    I'm wasn't sure who Lou G wass, or what the company was (I'm
    now told it's Lou Gerstner of IBM), however, what impresses the
    (Wall) "street" always impress me.  The street would be impressed
    if Digital sold off all it's business, and started making fruitcakes
    - as long as it had the right numbers (P&L, Revenue, ROI, etc).
    But that wouldn't impress me much.  A company is (or should be)
    more than just a financial instrument, run by people using Other
    Peoples Money.
    
    "Lou" doesn't need to provide the vision.  But someone needs to.  In
    a conglomorate, you don't have to have a common vision, but each of
    the disparate business do.
    
    IBM can run on it's own momentum until long after I die, without any
    vision - but with really cool commercials that project to the public
    the sense that they do.
    
    

I was talking about IBM.  By all measures, they have nicely recovered from
their stumble.  They were in worse shape than we were and they went on the
recovery path much later than we did.  However, they have completed the
successfull turnaround.  Nobody is making jokes about IBM's survival.

This was done by a non-technocrat CEO.  IBM hasn't got into tobacco or
biscuit business.

Publicly owned corporation can NOT ignore Wall St.  It is not a coincidence
that well run and *well-managed* companies are also darlings of the street.

- Vikas
       

    Well, if we are going into the fruitcake business, I have the
    perfect recipe that I worked up from an existing Southern 
    fruitcake recipe.  Even those people who hate fruitcake love
    this one.  So, I say that we have a fighting chance in changing
    our product base.  Say, what???  I do believe that the new 
    Fab 6 building could be converted to huge vats for the mixture.

    Anyone care to work up the presentation???

    justme

    News Release:
    
    In a stunning announcement, Digital Equipment Corporation
    today announced the sale of all it's computer related business
    units, and unveiled it's plan to become the worlds premier
    provider of fruitcake, and fruitcake related products.
    
    J. Gardner, the newly appointed Senior VP of marketing revealed
    the plan at a splashy gala event held here in Maynard Mass.
    
    "We found that the low-fat, low-calorie, high-fiber, and addictive
    fruitcakes that we had been offering as a add-on, were not only
    being purchased in large quanities - but were incredibly profitable",
    explained Gardner.
    
    "With the steady decline in the profitablilty of non-Intel systems,
    we realized that by concentrating on fruitcake as our core competency,
    we could sell off, and downsize most of the company - and become more
    profitable than Microsoft".
    
    Most analysts at the meeting agreed that the numbers look solid, and
    easily achievable.  The $15billion that the company is expected to
    get for the sale of it's computer related business units will be paid
    out as a one-time dividend.  Trading in DEC stock was briefly halted
    on the New York Stock Exchange when the price jumped an incredible $200
    a share from it's $17-1/2 opening price to $217-1/2 on a volume of
    over $50 million shares.
    
    Gardner hinted that a name change might be in the works for the company
    noting that they wer not in the watch business anymore.
    
    ...
    
    In a related story, an investor group headed by Ken Olsen is rumored
    to be interesting in purchasing part or all of the business units
    being sold off by Digital Equipment Corporation.
    
    "What the heck", Ken Olsen was quoted as saying.
    
    

From "Shannon on DEC"

 Digital insider reports that while the upper management supports the
fruitcake core to be the "one cake no frosting" strategy of Digital of
there have been distrubing rumors from wall street that there is in fact
only one fruitcake in the world that is being sent from person to person.
The fruitcake futures market has begun a sharp decline. liesl

    >>>only one fruitcake in the world that is being sent from person to
    >>>person.
    
    There is certianly more than one fruitcake in the world.
    
    Oh, you're talking about cakes!  Sorry.

    I resemble that remark ;')

    Back to .0 ...
    
    I have two goals every day of my life.  My first goal is to look at myself
    in the mirror each morning (usually after a shower when I am putting my
    contacts in) and ask the following question:  "How are you going to do the
    right thing today -- for your family, for your customers, for your
    co-workers, for those you supervise, and those that supervise you,
    ... ?"  My second goal is to take another look at myself in the mirror each
    right before I go to bed and ask another question to myself -- "Did you
    do the right thing today -- for your family, your customers, ... ?"
    
    In fact, I am just like everybody else in that I often forget to ask
    these questions regularly.  But, as I grow older, I find that I depend
    more and more on answering these questions each day just to keep my
    sanity.  There are times when I am quite pleased with my answers. 
    Other times, my answers are quite sobering and I am ashamed to look at
    my self.  However, no matter what my answer is, I know that the next
    day presents new challenges:  to accept the consequences for my mistakes
    and try to redeem myself; to meet a new person and reach out to them or
    to find an old aquaintance and do the same; to look at old problems
    with fresh ideas and new solutions; ...  I cannot change the past, but
    each day is an opportunity to change the future.
    
    What I am trying to say is that life is about looking inside yourself
    and using that knowledge to affect the outside.  Life is what you make
    it.  I have learned the hard way that the important things in life have
    much more to do with how you treat the world around you, and have less to
    with how the world treats you.  Am I happy about the things that have
    happened within Digital?  Not at all!  Am I frustrated with watching
    fellow employees lose their job and watching our competitors beat the
    pants off us?  I certainly am! But Digital is just like anything else
    encounter in life (e.g., Am I going to do the right thing for Digital
    today? -- Did I do the right thing for Digital today?).
    
    It is not my desire to impose my religious beliefs on anyone in this
    forum.  However there are two things from my faith that I have run
    across that I would like to share.  The first is the "Golden Rule,"
    which says to treat others as you would like them to treat you. 
    Sometimes the most simple things make the most sense.  I believe such
    is the case with this axiom of life.  The second thing is the famous
    "Prayer of Serenity."  It goes something like this:
    
    God,
    grant me serenity to change things when I can...
    to accept the things I cannot ...
    and the wisdom to know the difference.
    
    Finally, I will share the wisdom in something a friend once told me. 
    He said, "Don't sweat the small stuff in life.  Remember that
    everything in life is small stuff!"
    
    

>>    In a stunning announcement, Digital Equipment Corporation
>>    today announced the sale of all it's computer related business
>>    units, and unveiled it's plan to become the worlds premier
>>    provider of fruitcake, and fruitcake related products.

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once.  A guy was sitting at a desk beneath a sign
that said "Bob's Computer Company," but "Computer" was crossed out and "Fish
Cleaning" written in.  He was busy cleaning a fish, and he had a distressed
look on his face.  A co-worker was saying something like, "Don't be so upset,
at least you still have a job."

(Yes, I do believe it said "Bob's" in the sign; I recall finding the name
apropos.)

						Brian

    G'day,
    
    Been here for allbut 10years and have seen some changes in my time...
    
    and sometimes life has not been that rosy...
    
    but
    
    I enjoy working here - I tried four times before I got a job here and
    I'm glad still that I succeded.
    
    So listening to folk in this stream,some decisions seem not fair.. life
    is 'not fair'. The 'company' does not make decisions - some person does
    in response to information received and problems perceived. Sometime
    those decisions are not palatable, even to the decision maker. That's
    life. Remeber when you decided to eat that anchovy pizza that gave you
    the indigestion. You lived through your mistake... Sometime apparent
    mistakes affect others. 
    
    Some MBAs are good, very good, some pass the MBA on others capabilities
    and the certificate delineates neither. The $1000 suit sounds like sour
    grapes. If you want to be there, go to school, make the financial and
    time investment and become one. Don't want that, then you don't 'want'
    enough. There was a tv article last night. A down and out woman in
    london, lived on the streets around the UK from teh age of 16 to the
    age of 51. Heavy into drugs and alcohol, rejected by family, abused as
    a child. Decided that enough was enough. Cleaned herself up, moved to a
    convent, earned a BA(honours) at Oxford, is reading for an MA and is
    determined to become a Phd. She 'wanted' enough. 
    
    
    
    Yes there are some who seem to be paid highly for glories past - but
    that is what a continuing n%pay increase per annum means. Yes there are
    some that appear above their talents - I recall someone saying their
    (not digital) MD was an idiot. he was unhappy that I pointed out that
    at least that person was MD, which he was not... If a Consultant is not
    earning their keep, then go and ask them questions and learn from them.
    Maybe in time, you may aspire to be a consultant.
    
    So you don't play politics to get ahead... recognise that going up the
    ladder involves politics as a skill. Don't want that? then don't aspire
    up the ladder. If some politics works against you, then recognize that
    someone is better than you are at it. Read "how to survive company
    politics" - it says you have to use politics even to stay in the job
    you like, at the pay you earn - for if you are good, then someone may
    want to move you up, and if not, then down!
    
    So what do I think is important:
    *my family (as #1 son announces engagement, and #2 son gets his first
    job)
    *Earning my keep - if I can do better that the next person at my job,
    then maybe I have a better chance of getting some of the peanut butter
    *Enjoying working with the colleagues around me - I see them more hours
    than I see my wife, so I had better have fun working
    *my out of work hours as a volunteer bush firefighter, first aid
    instructor
    *my church and the friends I have there
    *My home
    
    Note work is high on the list - it butters my bread, and I want that to
    keep on happening. I am very aware that talented people have been lost
    to the company even tho they did work hard and well. That's sad for
    them (tho many have gone to bigger things). I have to say that I have
    been fortunate that I saw the job I did going away well in advance, so
    I went to school and did a business degree and then changed what I do
    for a crust... 
    
    So I believe that the company programs for career choice is something
    that is goodness and if that in the end keeps you happy with life (and
    out of Digital) so be it - but if it moves you to a more interesting
    change of career that's worth valuing.
    
    my 2�
    
    derek
    

    >...
    >and the certificate delineates neither. The $1000 suit sounds like sour
    >grapes. If you want to be there, go to school, make the financial and
    >
    
    Since I was the offender here, I offer another mea culpa to the
    offended MBA's.  The "$1000 suit" was an unfortunate label that was
    glib at best.  And worse, it detracted from the point, which was not
    the cost of the apparel, or even the income that can be derived from
    an Ivy League MBA.  In retrospect, if I could "modify" the original
    replies, I would alter it so as not to lead you to the mistaken
    impression that this was some type of "sour grapes" in terms of the
    relative income levels that a MBA makes to myself, or anyone else.
    
    The point rather had to do with a management style, and philosophy,
    that views corporations as financial vehicles, as opposed to, say,
    a "Computer Manufacturing Company".  Also the philosphy of the
    "temporary workforce", which I first read in the Harvard Business
    Review, which in my opinion has the side effect of hollowing out the
    company.   And on even a higher level, the institutional ownership
    of corporations as financial investments.  No longer is stock in
    companies like DEC overwhelmingly owned by real people, who are
    interested in long term investments, or interested in what the company
    actually *does*.  Instead the stock is owned by mutual funds, pension
    plans, and a whole host of institutions, and as parts of "baskets"
    of investment instruments - and are focused purely on the returns
    *today* or maybe as far out as next quarter.
    
    My feeble mind associates the decline in the relationship between
    corporations, and employees with much the above.  And the above
    with the stereotypes from the excesses of the 80's, the investment
    bankers, the Ivy League MBA's, the "Other Peoples Money" kind of
    stuff.  So it's easy to take aim, and say it's the "MBA's in their
    $1000 suits", just like it's easy to say "Lets shoot all the lawyers"
    when you talk about the problem with the legal system.
    
    We can leave the debate about the compensation a MBA makes to the
    next discussion about why corporate executives in general are overpaid.
    Or why pick-a-profession is overpaid.  Or why everyone should write
    a $10 check made out to CASH and mail it to Fred Kleinsorge at
    ZKO3-4/W23 ;-)
    
    ...
    
    I will offer another mea-culpa about a peanut-butter reply that when
    I re-read it did sound like sour grapes (hey, do I get sympathy because
    it was my 40th birthday?).  In retrospect I regret entirely to the point
    that I deleted it the other day.  I was also informed (by a informed,
    and respected source) that the "peanut butter" was the chunky variety -
    which _was_ good to hear, but which was also depressing because "creamy
    style" was the conclusion that was easily reached without conflicting evidence
    to the contrary... and not just by me, but by many.  Too much
    information is never shared, and misinformation fills the void.
    

    Better living though creative editing.  Both .38, and .51 took
    justifyable issue with MBA pot shots in the original .34...
    which has been nuked, and is rewritten below.  With luck, the
    next guy starting this thread from .0 will not go off the
    tracks because of my cheap shots.
    
    ----
    
    .32 It's a hell of a way to achieve balance, but nonetheless
        DECs loss is often a personal gain.
    
        I feel sorry for the ones who can't cope with the stress.
    	The relationships that get *worse* because of it.
    
        I know that there is a business school theory, turned into
        real world experiment, that believes that a temporary workforce
        is a good thing, and that people must learn expect instability,
        and get used to change... but it's a hell of a way to live.
        By sacrificing long-term, happy, loyal employees, for the
        short-term bottom line - you can no longer expect 100% efforts
        by employees, or that they will turn their ideas into saleable
        products for the company.
    
    	How do you manage a workforce where there is no mutual loyalty?
        Where many of your key people have transportable skills,
        transportable pensions, transportable everything?  Where there
        is no job security, regardless of your skills and efforts.
    
    	Management becomes a lesson in herding cats.
    
    	The shame of it is that you can have *both*.  It doesn't need
    	to be a either/or thing.  DEC *could* be that place that you 
    	just love to go to work at every morning - *and* you can still
    	have a life.
    
    	But you can't when companies are driven by forces that only
        understand this quarters Profit and Loss.  Maybe it's a
        commentary on institutional ownership of public corporations
        that forces a single focus on short-term profits.  I dunno.
        Maybe it's the same everywhere.  But it sure does suck.
    
        With a focus on short-term profits, you can't take a longer
        look to build a business - you need to already be there.  NT
        will succeed because Bill Gates doesn't care if it loses
        money for 5 years, because he is *building* a business, and
        has a long-range strategy.  He can do it because he has not
        _yet_ lost control of the company, and because overall the
        company is still profitable.
    
    	Well, when the revolution comes, at least I'm a member of
        Dogbert's New Ruling Class ;-)