Lou! Lou! Lou!

Could there be anything missing in the endless analysis of the Rise & Fall of C Fiorina?
I think so.

Lou.

Louis Gerstner in 1993 faced the equivalent of the “HP Way.” Namely, the “IBM Way.” At least as potent. (And at least, at that moment, as impotent.)

Lou beat it.
He kept it.
He tamed it.
He re-birthed it.

And while Sam Palmisano’s IBM Today is not Spotless, it’s worth a decent bet at the track.

So, for what it’s worth, instead of excoriating CF for her less-than-Godly record at HP, let’s pause and Genuflect to Brother Lou who made True Miracles (“culturally” as well as “strategically”) at an equally Tough Nut called IBM.

I, for one, bow down to Lou … 10X the CEO Jack Welch was. (Though they both “done good.”)

Tom Peters posted this on February 15, 2005, in Strategies.