This week I read two articles, one right after the other. The first, pointed out by John Unwin writing to us at tompeters.com (thanks, John), described a difficult situation faced by the new CEO of Sony, Howard Stringer. You can read it here: "At Sony, Rivalries Were Encouraged; Then Came iPod," WSJ, June 29, 2005.
Then, UNC Chapel Hill contacted me about reprinting a piece by Tom first published in 1983: "A Skunkworks Tale." As I read through it, I realized this: In his article, Tom laid out a strategy to prevent Sony's current problem, and he wrote it 22 years ago!
Mr. Stringer, are you reading this?