FEW BUSINESS LEADERS get to be highly recognized names in the world at large or even in the broadest business community like the team of William Hewlett and David Packard.
In 1938 they pooled $538 to found their namesake Hewlett-Packard in a rented garage. Hewlett focused his energy on leading the technology side of the now $31 billion high-tech leader. Packard, who died at 83, wrestled with managing the day-to-day operation.
Many believe that David Packard’s chief legacy may be his management style.
His employees awarded him a M.B.W.A.Degree—“Master By Walking Around”—for the legwork expended in his belief that upper management should remain close toworkers.
The “HP Way” also strived to maintain a small company atmosphere even as the workforce expanded to 100,000. Employees were allowed freedom, and internal competition was encouraged, while working toward a shared objective.
Packard’s commitment to employees was also legendary. In 1990 he came out of semiretirement to help manage a sweeping corporate overhaul that successfully averted the job losses that subsequently hit many other high-tech companies.
The thinking behind that 1990 effort can be tracked back to HP’s beginnings, about which Packard said: “We weren’t interested in the idea of making money. Our idea was, if you couldn’t find a job, you’d make one for yourself.”
Moral : The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.
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