I was cleaning out my garage last Saturday (doesn’t everyone need to get rid of some of the stuff we collect?) and I came across some of my old IBM stuff in a box. To my surprise, I discovered a THINK pad, and not my laptop (I also have a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop). I got this when I joined IBM right out of grad school in 1982. It is an original leather bound THINK pad. Many IBM’ers carried these small pads in their shirt pocket or purse. They came in handy to jot down ideas or just make a “to-do” list. Also, during my tenure at IBM the THINK signs were ubiquitous. It was a constant reminder to the culture Thomas J. Watson Sr. instilled in his company. Training and continuous learning were key parts of employee development.
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. was famous for his appreciation of the capabilities and talents of his employees. We were always encouraged to spend time thinking about what would be the best solution, technical approach, or new research. I had an incredible amount of intellectual freedom during my tenure at IBM. I was able to explore and uncover new technical insights. Being the first classically training rheologist at IBM, I really had a playpen to explore. I dug into the chemorheology of thermosets, curing, flow, composite lamination and in the process developed a really deep understanding of thermosets. Much of my future success was enabled by my IBM days.
The other thing the THINK culture allowed was what Watson called “wild ducks.” Many of the IBM Fellows were wild ducks in their time. Wild duck was a sort of badge of honor for those who thought about things differently, looked out-of-the-box for solutions, and generally were contrarians. If you backed up your position with solid data and science, management would listen.
I remember vividly one situation when I was a wild duck. A new resin was being developed and the curing temperature was too low to get full cure. Dr. Prime and I have talked about this in several posts (Tcure > ultimate Tg to avoid vitrification). I had my data and objected to the lamination process temperatures. Back then, I was a bit brash, but I had my ducks in a row. I remember an IBM Fellow, Dr. Don Seraphim coming up to me in the hallway one day and said “Jeff, we will help you smooth out your rough feathers, but never stop standing up for what you think is right and keep pushing to us to do the right thing.” I still remember that exchange 33 years later.
Sadly, if I would have done that at some of my future employers, it would not have gone over the same way. Fortunately, I did get my rough feathers smoothed out (most of the time!). Many times standing up for what is right, when everyone is on a different page can be a career limiting situation. What led IBM to greatness in the early days was a willingness to listen to all views, consider all of the data, and make a good technical or business decision.
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