The Digital Management Legacy: A
Culture of Knowledge, Innovation and Collaborative Advantage
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Debra Amidon RIP, 2016 |
Debra was Founder and CEO of ENTOVATION
International Ltd, a network across 62 countries of experts in innovation
strategy and the Knowledge Economy. She had authored several books,
including The Innovation SuperHighway, and materials that have been
translated into a dozen languages - see our members in Print for some of
them. Sadly, Debra passed away in 2016. At Digital, Debra was hired as
a Strategic Human Resource Planning Mgr in 1981; served as Associate
Director of External Research, funding hundreds of research projects
and research consortia worldwide. She created the Rationale for
Management Systems Research - the first industrial-strength research
focus on management in the world. Debra served as the Alfred
P. Sloan Fellow on behalf of Digital with a published thesis,
Global Innovation Strategy. Debra delivered this presentation at the dedication of Gordon College's Ken Olsen Science Center in 2008. |
Abstract: |
Digital was a management enigma,
particularly in how innovative ideas were brought to market. Debra
will explore the roots of the company's value system, and how it has
become the managerial standard in enterprises around the world. Ken's
philosophy, evident in his infamous parables, became the learning
environment to emulate...engaging, networked, and empowering each
employee and stakeholder - all in the quest of quality and corporate
success. |
"Ken Olsen is very busy... he takes care of people
all over the world." - This was Debra's 9-year old daughter Kendra's
observation on Ken's unique paternal management style as Debra traveled
through DECtown, then DECworld in the mid-1980s. -
- Digital, founded in 1957 by
Ken Olsen - then only a few years out of high school! - as a company was
financially conservative but organizationally progressive
- By 1991 - when Debra authored
Origins of a
Knowledge-based Firm - Digital had grown to $12.9B, #27 of the Fortune 50,
with 120,000 employees
- Spirit of inquiry, imagination created a
university with a corporate P&L statement
- Digital's unique culture - Debra went on a
treasure hunt to document our management story.
-
Ken's parables - became the corporate DNA = what
Ken said: -
Innovate - do not waste time
copying the competition No
one should lose their job, we're not defining the market properly Listen to our customers Always be better than others
think we are Act - take initiative, responsible risks,
learn from mistakes This message became vested in
company PRACTICES: Do the right thing Those who propose dispose Manage by walking around Keep the door ‘open’
-
"Entrepreneurial teamwork" - in balance - was the
best of both worlds
- Management by consensus - moved ideas into
marketable products
- This was a world where knowledge was valued more
than hierarchy
- Collaboration with customers and partners was more
important that watching what your competitors were doing
- There was a Digital mystique - your badge number,
the Christmas turkey - Digital was a company with a soul (and that soul was
infused by Ken Olsen)
-
Multi-dimensional - matrix management Simultaneous imagination and action A learning organization, a
networked organization, and a knowledge-based firm before its time In a culture of responsible risk-taking,
cross-functional teams were the norm. This was in stark contrast to
the Sloan School of vertical management. The Engineering Forum - led by
Bob Glorioso - was a real-time living innovation laboratory General Doriot's influence was felt strongly -
real-time living, an innovation laboratory
-
1989 - "Metaframe" was a
project undertaken by Digital Europe to produce the sound conceptual
basis for DEC’s future strategic decision-making.
-
Creating our future:
"Extended enterprise" Digital's corporate jewels were the people, the
culture, and the products which produced architecture
-
DECUS was the largest computing user group, when
IBM was six times our size
-
1991 - David Stone, VP
Engineering, explained to customers the Information or Knowledge utility
concept
-
Knowledge, innovation and collaboration
-
Digital was the ultimate
partner, launching numerous regional and global initiatives such as: MCC in Austin The Open Software Foundation (OSF) Massachusetts Technology Park
Corporation (MTPC) ALVEY Project in the UK The METAFRAMES that became the
basis for the Framework Programmes in the European Union. We even had a vice President
for Strategic Alliances!
-
We know now the value of
social network analysis We understand the value of the
Internet, the Intranets and Extranets. We know how technology
supports performance an unprecedented innovation
-
Ken's management legacy:
Digital’s entrepreneurial legacy is alive and well and thrives in many
organizations… There is hardly an organization today – profit or
not-for-profit – or a city, region or nation that is NOT dedicated to
developing a Knowledge-based Economy. Digital developed in 1987 - the concept of intellectual
capital.
-
And just because the Digital
corporate walls may have disappeared does not mean that we stopped
learning…stopped interacting…applying what we learned…sharing own
knowledge…innovating. Our values never left – quite the contrary. We may
have held those values before joining the company - the reason we were
attracted in the first place. It is the reason we excelled in that
environment; and when we left, those values and lessons became a part of
every decision we made, every interaction we had and is still a part of
everything we do.
-
In summary: Digital's was a unique culture based on
knowledge-based business, innovation strategy, and collaborative advantage -
and it began with Ken's idea of a research university with a corporate P&L.
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