3 ms·

"Competent" at IBM was defined around "being able to jump through the correct hoops after filling out the correct forms".

bsder 7y ago
Which is better than 90+% of the places people work. Most big companies I've worked for or experienced can't find the forms and wouldn't know what a hoop is if you shoved it up their ass. This is based on experience in the 1990's, so may not hold anymore. IBM normally at least had a procedure. Do you want to start a new project? Okay, fill in this form and give a presentation to that group next month. You've got about a 1 in 3 chance of 12-18 months of funding. We'll review your progress at that point as to whether to kill your project. That's better than almost anywhere I worked ever since other than startups at which I was a principal. IBM in the 1990's (remember--this is still mostly pre-internet) was still an amazing place if you were motivated. You could pick up the phone and call a world expert on just about any technical subject and just talk to them. There were lots of interesting projects still going on and someone who wasn't lazy could quite easily maneuver into them--even if you were just an intern or co-op. (As a co-op, I sat in an X-ray lithography class and lab! You couldn't buy that course at the time, for any amount of money let alone do stuff in the lab.) In the 1990's, IBM still also had lots of little enclaves of hypercompetency--generally composed of old greybeards who were within 10 years of retirement. And, if you were motivated, you could attach yourself to one of those and do amazing things. Or, you could go get an MBA and stab your way up the management chain. That was also a choice and option at IBM for those so inclined and motivated. The point was that in the 1990's, IBM would let you wallow in laziness if you wanted--the company wasn't going to give you motivation. But if you found your own motivation, it was really quite an amazing opportunity. (Story time: we were at a bar celebrating the fact that a friend's project shipped and he said: "I've been at IBM almost 12 years and I finally had a project ship." I stared at him in horror: "Dude, I've been here about 6 years and I've had all four of my projects ship. Perhaps you should pick projects that have customers instead of political connections.")
- mcguire 7y ago
  I worked on the OS/2 Workplace Shell, Taligent, and Workplace OS. And later the XCP network protocol (and rode the Pervasive Computing division into the ground). :-(

bsder 7y ago

Which is better than 90+% of the places people work. Most big companies I've worked for or experienced can't find the forms and wouldn't know what a hoop is if you shoved it up their ass. This is based on experience in the 1990's, so may not hold anymore. IBM normally at least had a procedure. Do you want to start a new project? Okay, fill in this form and give a presentation to that group next month. You've got about a 1 in 3 chance of 12-18 months of funding. We'll review your progress at that point as to whether to kill your project. That's better than almost anywhere I worked ever since other than startups at which I was a principal. IBM in the 1990's (remember--this is still mostly pre-internet) was still an amazing place if you were motivated. You could pick up the phone and call a world expert on just about any technical subject and just talk to them. There were lots of interesting projects still going on and someone who wasn't lazy could quite easily maneuver into them--even if you were just an intern or co-op. (As a co-op, I sat in an X-ray lithography class and lab! You couldn't buy that course at the time, for any amount of money let alone do stuff in the lab.) In the 1990's, IBM still also had lots of little enclaves of hypercompetency--generally composed of old greybeards who were within 10 years of retirement. And, if you were motivated, you could attach yourself to one of those and do amazing things. Or, you could go get an MBA and stab your way up the management chain. That was also a choice and option at IBM for those so inclined and motivated. The point was that in the 1990's, IBM would let you wallow in laziness if you wanted--the company wasn't going to give you motivation. But if you found your own motivation, it was really quite an amazing opportunity. (Story time: we were at a bar celebrating the fact that a friend's project shipped and he said: "I've been at IBM almost 12 years and I finally had a project ship." I stared at him in horror: "Dude, I've been here about 6 years and I've had all four of my projects ship. Perhaps you should pick projects that have customers instead of political connections.")

mcguire 7y ago
I worked on the OS/2 Workplace Shell, Taligent, and Workplace OS. And later the XCP network protocol (and rode the Pervasive Computing division into the ground). :-(