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>>so he bought the machine in parts in a series ... then constructed it himself. When Drew’s boss later found out what Drew he’d been up to, he rewarded him Th
by kamaal 12y ago
>>so he bought the machine in parts in a series ... then constructed it himself. When Drew’s boss later found out what Drew he’d been up to, he rewarded him
This is more or less impossible in any organization I know of today. There might be a few exceptions, but by and large 'Im going to prove them wrong' strategy will only attract enemies from the political cartels in middle management these days. You will be marked as some who frequently indulges in insubordination, kind of guy who generally unionizes and can become immediate threat to their own job.
Most managers these days will likely let the company go in loss than have some one below them look smarter to people above. I even seriously doubt if the 20% innovation initiatives in Internet companies work anymore.
>>“He didn’t even know exactly what was needed, but he had the optimism of youth.”
This too is impossible in most places today, even start ups. Which won't hire you until you know some 100 math theorems by heart or have a degree from Ivy leagues.
- jessekiddd 12y agoThat's why few companies who make differences make history and most are forgotten.
- CurtMonash 12y agoOddly, one place where innovation unquestionably happens is in sales, especially in the early days of a company. A young company trots out its cute new puppy, and the field people (CEO or otherwise as the case may be) and the customers collaborate in making it into a wolf or plowhorse or cheetah or something else very different from what it started out to be. See also the much-admired concept of "pivot".
- arethuza 12y agoActually, the need for sales to be flexible and innovative is one of the reasons customizability is so important for CRM systems.
- unreal37 12y agoI bet things haven't changed as much as you think. It was probably pretty rare back then to find the right person working for the right boss. And it's equally rare today. And I would disagree with the second point. I've hired a few guys right out of school with no experience, but I recognized they had the right attitude. It's about 50% effective, but when it works out, it's great.
- cpwright 12y agoThis kind of stuff still happens. When I was employed by a university; capital purchases had a lower overhead rate than regular expenses. We didn't buy 5 workstations, we bought a five system "cluster". When I was employed at IBM, we were under expense controls, so anything over $250 needed to be approved by the Research division comptroller. Instead of purchasing a PC, PC parts were purchased and assembled.