William Hewlett and David Packard Quotes
William Hewlett and David Packard Quotes
Here we were with about $500 in capital trying whatever someone thought we might be able to do. So we got into this thing not by design but because it worked out that way.
I'd always been interested in scientific things, but my father – who died when I was 12 – was a greatly beloved doctor, and I did not want to compete with his image, so instead of getting interested in medicine I invested a lot of hours disassembling door locks and things like that. My mother just called it mischief.
When I talked to business schools occasionally, the professor of management is devastated when I say we didn’t have any plans when we started.
Believe you can change the world.
We really didn't know if this oscillator was any good. We simply put one together that worked pretty well, sent a letter out to universities and others, got three or four orders, and tried it again.
It is important to remember that both Dave and I were products of the Great Depression. We had observed its effects on all sides, and it could not help but influence our decisions on how a company should be run.
We did not want to run a hire-and-fire operation, but rather a company built on a loyal and dedicated work force. Further we felt that this work force should be able to share to some extent in the progress of the company.
We were just opportunistic. We did anything to bring in a nickel. We made a bowling alley foul-line indicator, a clock drive for a telescope, a thing to make a urinal flush automatically, and a shock machine to make people lose weight.
We knew what technology was available, and we figured out how little bits of it would fit within the area where we wanted to be. There was not one giant step that we took at any point; there were a lot of little steps. Pretty much we just stuck to our knitting. I think we were concerned about making a technical contribution and we operated on the assumption that if we made a contribution to society, rewards would follow.
We wished to operate, as much as possible, on a pay-as-you-go basis, that our growth be financed by our earnings and not by debt.
What we consider the HP Way doesn't just happen from the top; it's built into the organization. I tell HP people, 'You're really the propagators of the HP Way. You're where it resides.
Packard
I remember that while quite young I got a thrill from looking at pictures of railroads, bridges, motors, generators, and other mechanical and electrical equipment. I tried to simulate some of these devices with small-scale models in our backyard.
Somehow, we got into a discussion of the responsibility of management. [The moderator] made the point that management’s responsibility is to the shareholders - that’s the end of it. And I objected. I said, ‘I think you’re absolutely wrong. Management has a responsibility to its employees, it has a responsibility to its customers, it has a responsibility to the community at large.’ And they almost laughed me out of the room.
I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper to find our real reason for being…A group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company…to do something worthwhile – they make a contribution to society.
If they don’t get inventories under control, they’re not going to be your managers for very long.
I spent many hours roaming the prairie, sometimes with childhood friends, sometimes alone, until my high school years, when studies and school activities consumed most of my time. But in those early years of roaming, my love of nature was born.
I started helping my mother when I was quite young, and gardening became a lifelong interest for me. I also found it to be an excellent recreational activity, for one quickly forgets the troubles of the world when absorbed with gardening.
To remain static is to lose ground.
William Hewlett and David Packard Quotes
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Hewlett
Here we were with about $500 in capital trying whatever someone thought we might be able to do. So we got into this thing not by design but because it worked out that way.
I'd always been interested in scientific things, but my father – who died when I was 12 – was a greatly beloved doctor, and I did not want to compete with his image, so instead of getting interested in medicine I invested a lot of hours disassembling door locks and things like that. My mother just called it mischief.
When I talked to business schools occasionally, the professor of management is devastated when I say we didn’t have any plans when we started.
Believe you can change the world.
We really didn't know if this oscillator was any good. We simply put one together that worked pretty well, sent a letter out to universities and others, got three or four orders, and tried it again.
It is important to remember that both Dave and I were products of the Great Depression. We had observed its effects on all sides, and it could not help but influence our decisions on how a company should be run.
We did not want to run a hire-and-fire operation, but rather a company built on a loyal and dedicated work force. Further we felt that this work force should be able to share to some extent in the progress of the company.
We were just opportunistic. We did anything to bring in a nickel. We made a bowling alley foul-line indicator, a clock drive for a telescope, a thing to make a urinal flush automatically, and a shock machine to make people lose weight.
We knew what technology was available, and we figured out how little bits of it would fit within the area where we wanted to be. There was not one giant step that we took at any point; there were a lot of little steps. Pretty much we just stuck to our knitting. I think we were concerned about making a technical contribution and we operated on the assumption that if we made a contribution to society, rewards would follow.
We wished to operate, as much as possible, on a pay-as-you-go basis, that our growth be financed by our earnings and not by debt.
What we consider the HP Way doesn't just happen from the top; it's built into the organization. I tell HP people, 'You're really the propagators of the HP Way. You're where it resides.
Packard
I remember that while quite young I got a thrill from looking at pictures of railroads, bridges, motors, generators, and other mechanical and electrical equipment. I tried to simulate some of these devices with small-scale models in our backyard.
Somehow, we got into a discussion of the responsibility of management. [The moderator] made the point that management’s responsibility is to the shareholders - that’s the end of it. And I objected. I said, ‘I think you’re absolutely wrong. Management has a responsibility to its employees, it has a responsibility to its customers, it has a responsibility to the community at large.’ And they almost laughed me out of the room.
I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper to find our real reason for being…A group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company…to do something worthwhile – they make a contribution to society.
If they don’t get inventories under control, they’re not going to be your managers for very long.
I spent many hours roaming the prairie, sometimes with childhood friends, sometimes alone, until my high school years, when studies and school activities consumed most of my time. But in those early years of roaming, my love of nature was born.
I started helping my mother when I was quite young, and gardening became a lifelong interest for me. I also found it to be an excellent recreational activity, for one quickly forgets the troubles of the world when absorbed with gardening.
To remain static is to lose ground.
William Hewlett and David Packard Quotes
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 The HP Guys: The Early Years of Technology Giants Hewlett and Packard
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 “Here we were with about $500 in capital trying whatever someone thought we might be able to do,” recalled Bill Hewlett. “So we got into this thing not by design but because it worked out that way.” |
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Doing it the HP Way: How Hewlett and Packard Rose to Success
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| The story of Hewlett and Packard has become legendary throughout Silicon Valley: two guys who started off in a small garage with just a few hundred dollars go on to create the largest IT company in the world. How di... |
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Lesson #3: It Takes Guts to Get to Where You Want to Go
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| “We were just opportunistic,” said Hewlett. “We did anything to bring in a nickel. We made a bowling alley foul-line indicator, a clock drive for a telescope, a thing to make a urinal flush automatically, and a shoc... |
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Lesson #2: Always Leave the Doors to Innovation Open
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| “I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money,” said Packard during an HP management training session in 1960. “While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have ... |
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Lesson #1: Practice Management the HP Way
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| “It is important to remember that both Dave and I were products of the Great Depression,” said Hewlett. “We had observed its effects on all sides, and it could not help but influence our decisions on how a company s... |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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