[ Thanks to Bob
Tennent for this link. ]
“In the fall of 2001, top executives at IBM Corp. realized they
had a major problem on their hands. Something was happening to
their industry that the technology giant could neither control nor
predict. When you’re IBM, this is not a feeling that goes over
well. Big Blue didn’t get its nickname–or, for that matter, its
$105 billion worth of assets–by going with the flow (all currency
in U.S. dollars).“The problem soon landed on Joel Cawley’s desk. In a company
packed with brains, Cawley’s job as vice-president of corporate
strategy is to figure out new ways for IBM to think. He’s like a
mechanic wandering the aisles of a hardware store, searching for
gadgets to fill out his tool box–except he has a budget in the
millions and his store is the entire world…”