5 ms·

I worked for GE, back in the 1980s. It was the “Neutron Jack” era. The subunit I worked for, was almost supernaturally dysfunctional. I was there for 18 month

I worked for GE, back in the 1980s. It was the “Neutron Jack” era. The subunit I worked for, was almost supernaturally dysfunctional. I was there for 18 months, and they had 3 reorgs, in that time. Once, the VP of our division, called an “all-hands” meeting, to tell us that he was a lawyer that didn’t have a computer, didn’t like software (we were a software company), basically, didn’t like us, and that we’d better get on the stick, and make number go up. Ah…fun times…

passwordoops 1y ago
Sounds similar to the stories I hear coming out of Boeing
- consumer451 1y ago
  As you may already know, the McDonnell Douglas management team that took over Boeing has a direct line back to GE's Jack Welch. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/boeing-corporate-greed-airline-safety/ https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/boeing-corporate-...
  - _DeadFred_ 1y ago
    Are you talking about the management team that moved to DC, because why does management need to bother itself with the widgets or be tied to, you know, their product, they need be focused on the grift?
    - kamaal 1y ago
      People who don't come from a hardcore engineering background, often fail to understand what goes behind making good engineering deliverables. This problem has complicated since MBA types people have taken over. Everything is a cost center, and goes into some model in a spreadsheet. The 'What If' feature gives you all kinds of fairly tale cost savings and optimisation options, as you turn the dials and knobs. There is also a failure to understand that some amount of extra investments in people, quality and training is needed to keep the profits going. It might appear like they are not contributing to profits directly, but as it often happens eliminating them causes loss. You are basically trying to modify a highly complicated and delicate process, optimised over years of lessons, changes and far sightedness. Trying to optimising entirely from a cost perspective leads to all kinds of counter intuitive results.
- black_13 1y ago
  [dead]
FirmwareBurner 1y ago
> didn’t like us, and that we’d better get on the stick, and make number go up Unfathomably based. I'd much prefer these honest types who are upfront about it, that I don't like you, we don't like you either, it's all transactional here, work in exchange for money till we find a better job, than the sociopath corporate assassins who try to gaslight workers telling everyone how we're all family and we're all in this tough period together, meanwhile doing layoffs, cutting things like break room coffee while buying another Porsche and building an executive gym.
- MichaelZuo 1y ago
  That sounds more like a parody, how does the company not implode with that kind of incompetence?
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    All companies and organizations are incompetent, just in different ways, whether you see it or not, because they're run by humans and humans are flawed. Many companies don't implode, because if all workers constantly ran away from all incompetent companies, everyone would have to choose to be unemployed, because there are no perfect companies where everyone is perfect and everything runs like clockwork. But some do implode when it reaches critical mass.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
    It eventually did, but it took a few years, after I left. GE had a lot of money to burn, back then. I remember going to a corporate party, at this mega-fancy catering campus, in Chantilly, VA. Green serpentine walls, grecian columns, reflecting pools, etc. Pretty crazy. I think that Welch spawned a whole bunch of "Mini-Jacks," that worked to be what they thought he wanted. The division was doing badly, and this guy was sent in to "clean it up." I suspect that he ended up "cleaning it out," which was probably a win, in his book. I worked with some top-shelf engineers, back then. GE could hire the best. If they had been managed well, they could have been awesome. The management, however, was terrible, especially at the higher levels. Lots of nice suits and cufflinks, but very little smarts.
toss1 1y ago
Interesting to hear another story how software was devalued at GE. During that time my software company was brought in to bid on a project for GE. Cool project, making a repository for technical drawings going back a century; turns out they still maintain power plants that old! Anyway, it seemed to be going great until GE presented a term sheet, which included a maximum pay for SWEs under $30/hr, requirement to submit all data on hours worked and pay issued, maximum profit margin of 6%, etc. It was instantly obvious they considered software the same as sweatshop labor and wanted nothing to do with engineering real solutions. A big "Nevermind" and walked away. Still shaking my head on how disconnected from reality the GE mgt was. Decided to never invest in the stock, but watched it continue to climb for years before it finally collapsed for good. Always surprising how long large orgs can survive on sheer inertia. [Edit: typos]
- AnimalMuppet 1y ago
  Um, GE is currently at $241.09. In your reckoning, when did it "collapse for good"?
  - psunavy03 1y ago
    That "GE" is the former GE Aviation, and a small remnant of the multinational conglomerate it once was. It was split in three at the end of its long collapse. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/ge-completes-three-way-split-breaking-off-its-storied-past-2024-04-02/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/ge-completes-three-way-sp...
  - toss1 1y ago
    Stock price is not market capitalization. 30-Aug-2000 GE was $580.94 billion It's never gotten above around half that valuation since. Most key divisions were sold off. You can get "GE" label appliances, but it is a Chinese company. Plastics, which invented Lexan, was sold to Sabic. On and on. It is simply not the company it was and will take decades, if ever for it to become that again. 30-July-2020 = $53.13 billion Since then, the remaining aerospace division has recovered to $257B, but it is a different business. edit add ref link: https://companiesmarketcap.com/general-electric/marketcap/ https://companiesmarketcap.com/general-electric/marketcap/

passwordoops 1y ago

Sounds similar to the stories I hear coming out of Boeing

consumer451 1y ago
As you may already know, the McDonnell Douglas management team that took over Boeing has a direct line back to GE's Jack Welch. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/boeing-corporate-greed-airline-safety/ https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/boeing-corporate-...
- _DeadFred_ 1y ago
  Are you talking about the management team that moved to DC, because why does management need to bother itself with the widgets or be tied to, you know, their product, they need be focused on the grift?
  - kamaal 1y ago
    People who don't come from a hardcore engineering background, often fail to understand what goes behind making good engineering deliverables. This problem has complicated since MBA types people have taken over. Everything is a cost center, and goes into some model in a spreadsheet. The 'What If' feature gives you all kinds of fairly tale cost savings and optimisation options, as you turn the dials and knobs. There is also a failure to understand that some amount of extra investments in people, quality and training is needed to keep the profits going. It might appear like they are not contributing to profits directly, but as it often happens eliminating them causes loss. You are basically trying to modify a highly complicated and delicate process, optimised over years of lessons, changes and far sightedness. Trying to optimising entirely from a cost perspective leads to all kinds of counter intuitive results.
black_13 1y ago
[dead]

FirmwareBurner 1y ago

> didn’t like us, and that we’d better get on the stick, and make number go up Unfathomably based. I'd much prefer these honest types who are upfront about it, that I don't like you, we don't like you either, it's all transactional here, work in exchange for money till we find a better job, than the sociopath corporate assassins who try to gaslight workers telling everyone how we're all family and we're all in this tough period together, meanwhile doing layoffs, cutting things like break room coffee while buying another Porsche and building an executive gym.

MichaelZuo 1y ago
That sounds more like a parody, how does the company not implode with that kind of incompetence?
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  All companies and organizations are incompetent, just in different ways, whether you see it or not, because they're run by humans and humans are flawed. Many companies don't implode, because if all workers constantly ran away from all incompetent companies, everyone would have to choose to be unemployed, because there are no perfect companies where everyone is perfect and everything runs like clockwork. But some do implode when it reaches critical mass.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
  It eventually did, but it took a few years, after I left. GE had a lot of money to burn, back then. I remember going to a corporate party, at this mega-fancy catering campus, in Chantilly, VA. Green serpentine walls, grecian columns, reflecting pools, etc. Pretty crazy. I think that Welch spawned a whole bunch of "Mini-Jacks," that worked to be what they thought he wanted. The division was doing badly, and this guy was sent in to "clean it up." I suspect that he ended up "cleaning it out," which was probably a win, in his book. I worked with some top-shelf engineers, back then. GE could hire the best. If they had been managed well, they could have been awesome. The management, however, was terrible, especially at the higher levels. Lots of nice suits and cufflinks, but very little smarts.

toss1 1y ago

Interesting to hear another story how software was devalued at GE. During that time my software company was brought in to bid on a project for GE. Cool project, making a repository for technical drawings going back a century; turns out they still maintain power plants that old! Anyway, it seemed to be going great until GE presented a term sheet, which included a maximum pay for SWEs under $30/hr, requirement to submit all data on hours worked and pay issued, maximum profit margin of 6%, etc. It was instantly obvious they considered software the same as sweatshop labor and wanted nothing to do with engineering real solutions. A big "Nevermind" and walked away. Still shaking my head on how disconnected from reality the GE mgt was. Decided to never invest in the stock, but watched it continue to climb for years before it finally collapsed for good. Always surprising how long large orgs can survive on sheer inertia. [Edit: typos]

AnimalMuppet 1y ago
Um, GE is currently at $241.09. In your reckoning, when did it "collapse for good"?
- psunavy03 1y ago
  That "GE" is the former GE Aviation, and a small remnant of the multinational conglomerate it once was. It was split in three at the end of its long collapse. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/ge-completes-three-way-split-breaking-off-its-storied-past-2024-04-02/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/ge-completes-three-way-sp...
- toss1 1y ago
  Stock price is not market capitalization. 30-Aug-2000 GE was $580.94 billion It's never gotten above around half that valuation since. Most key divisions were sold off. You can get "GE" label appliances, but it is a Chinese company. Plastics, which invented Lexan, was sold to Sabic. On and on. It is simply not the company it was and will take decades, if ever for it to become that again. 30-July-2020 = $53.13 billion Since then, the remaining aerospace division has recovered to $257B, but it is a different business. edit add ref link: https://companiesmarketcap.com/general-electric/marketcap/ https://companiesmarketcap.com/general-electric/marketcap/