Customer Reviews

The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

They say engineers (myself included) are generally poor writers; then David Packard must be an absolute genius. David Packard's book (as has his company been one) is an important contribution and a must read for company executives. But it does require patience and dedication -- like the one he and Bill Hewlette had to endure to make HP a success! Once you get through the first 6 or 7 chapters the book becomes and absolute GEM. Until then -- and unfortunately you almost have to read the first few chapters -- the book is a positive cure for sleeplessness. HP's dedication to innovation, its financial frugality (which shows up in Dave Packard not hiring a good ghost writer or editor) and the importance of Management by Objectives, Decenterlized Organization, and Management by Walkign Around, Expected Returns on R&D are only some of the Gems hidden in this book; but you do have to mine to get to them and IMHO it is a worthwhile pain to go through. What also comes through is how HP slipped their biggest chance of dominating the chip and computer market by not taking the risk and cancelling the OMEGA project. Reading David Packard's fatalistic justifications is worth 10 times the price of the book. Also little credit is given to the inventor of the calculator that made HP a house hold name, and no mention is made of procurement of Appolo(until in Appendix 2)!!! Admittedly, I am at fault for having difficulty with this book. I read it after reading "Hard Drive, Bill Gatees and the Making of Microsoft Empire" by Jamve Wallace and Jim Erickson. These gentlemen are professional writers/journalists that know how to grab ones attention and keep it. Reading them before "The HP Way", which incidently and surprisingly was rated the best business book of 1996 by Amazon readers, is like watching the movie Titanic, and then going home to suffer through 6 hours of Mr. Rogers!!! But I do still recommend the book not to mention that I am more inclined to one day work for the comapny! Cheers, --- Esfandiar

I've read this book to find out what motivated the people and companies in Silicon Valley which many other contries want to have one in their territory. It gave me lesson that the venture needs to be based on the acknowledgement of the understanding that the world is complex. Once take this granted,you can understand Hewlett and Packard did a great job and put a milestone to those who still can't understand the complexity of the society

Considering that an electrial engineer like David Packard could have written a, boring, detailed account of how he and Bill Hewlett pieced together their very first piece of equipment in the now famous Pal Alto, California garage. This book surprises you with its simple down to earth account of how it all began and how they built this tiny garage shop into the multi billion dollar company that it is today. They did it not only with a strong belief in new and innovative products, but in the people that helped build the company. This simple belief built the foundation into the HP way of corporate greatness.

The book was simply written, but it is this style that allowed me to understand the friendship between David Packard and Bill Hewlett and the corporate culture that they developed at HP. I would recommend this book to anyone that is a manager or executive to benchmark the corporate culture that HP established or applaud yourself if you have already embraced the HP Way. I trully believe, as David Packard and Bill Hewlett did, that you need a strong belief in people to make a company succeed.

This is a wonderful business classic that should be read and studied by everyone interested in business. David Packard and Bill Hewlett created one of the great American companies and that alone is worth knowing. That it is one of the great foundations of Silicon Valley is another reason that you need to know this story. However, as far as I am concerned, the most important reason to know this story is the set of principles these two men used in founding, building, and running their company.

While they were technically brilliant men, they were also geniuses in gathering and grooming talent. However, their ability to inspire amazing loyalty in their employees is something that seems all but lost in our modern age of disposable firms and transient employment. They pioneered open plan offices (few walls and no doors), management by walking around, and much more. They had profit sharing from the very beginning. Not only did they have annual company picnics, they also bought a camp for use by employees. I know there are many reasons for the transition to where we are now, but I still have to ask if we really are better off today than we were then. Well, are we?

The stories about the development of various products are all interesting, but the stories are all in the service of illustrating the principles he is trying to get across. His emphasis on conservative financing is well aware of the use many companies make of leverage. The rejection of Wall Street's focus on the present quarter is heartfelt, and primacy of sound business principles and corporate culture resonate strongly in our time and its emphasis on simply winning in any way possible. The pictures also add to the story.

The recent book, "Bill & Dave" provides background material and fills in some of the gaps you will notice in reading this book, and I recommend it, as well. Still, this is the original and written by the man himself (well, by his staff with his supervision, right?) and deserves our attention.

A must read. Really.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

I have worked for Hewlett-Packard for six years. I find the stories explaining why the HP culture is in the existing way. In HP, we can use those stories as role model for how HP works. Therefore, I highly recommend HP staff to read this. In case that you are non-HP, you may need to read it several times before appreciating the HP culture.

Heard the recorded version of THE HP WAY: HOW BILL
HEWLETT AND I BUILT OUR COMPANY by David Packard

I found it fascinating to learn how these two college friends decided
to start their own company in 1939 out of a one-car garage in Palo
Alto, California (that has now become a historic landmark: the
birthplace of Silicon Valley) . . . from those humble beginnings,
Hewlett-Packard has grown to become one of the world's most
admired technology corporations.

What made this book stand out for me was the fact that in
learning about the HP history, you also found out what
Hewlett and Packard both did to make their company one where
employees would actually enjoy working at . . . they did
this by holding such beliefs as the following:

* A guiding principle at HP: Get the best people, stress
teamwork and get employees fired up to work there.

* Personal communication was often necessary to back up
written communication.

* Much of the success was from management by walking
around.

* Individuals need to be treated with consideration and respect.

* People need the challenge to be their best, to realize their
potential and to be recognized for their achievements.

* Personnel's job is to support management, not to supplant it.

* The betterment of our society is not a job to be limited to a
few; it is a responsibility to be shared by all.

After reading THE HP WAY, my only regret is that more organizations
don't get founded by such progressive thinkers as Bill Hewlett and
David Packard . . . though both dead, their legacies live in the
continuing success of the Hewlett-Packard Company.

Exciting and callenging... as I define Bill and David lives. A fantastic example of a process centered organization. Customer oriented, flexible, innovating and above all with a great confidence in its people, this is HP. This handbook could be very useful for who wants to build a company using the most innovating way and vision.

No more words... enjoy it!

All major computing companies have a set of myths, legends and facts that collectively form a unique mystique, but that of Hewlitt-Packard(HP) is truly different from the rest. Some of the unusual aspects of that mystique came to the forefront when the merger between HP and Compaq was reaching the final stages. One of the children of a founder launched a lawsuit against the merger because, among other things, it would lead to large number of layoffs, and that was "not the HP way." Good corporate citizenship and care for the workers are fundamental principles laid down and practiced by Bill Hewlitt and David Packard as they grew from a garage to a multi-billion dollar company.
This book is the story of that growth in the words of one of the founders. It is a tale of challenges, management strategies that were and still are unusual, corporate honesty (imagine that as a management strategy), opportunities seen and tenaciously pursued, occasional mistakes, but always remaining focused on success. The strategy of management by walking around is still one of the most successful tactics that can be used to manage people. Even a few minutes spent observing and conversing with an employee can show you more than any above the fray approach could possibly do and is an incredible morale booster for the entire staff.
Over the years, I have heard many of the stories associated with HP, and after a time, began relegating some of them into the area of company "myth." However, after reading this book, I came away even more impressed with Bill Hewlitt and David Packard. Books on how to manage companies are far too numerous to mention and many are thick enough to be of use to a bodybuilder. Small enough to be lifted by a toddler, this book contains more practical knowledge about how to start and manage a company than the majority of the heavyweights.

This book has trouble deciding whether to be a history of the company or a management philosophy book. Ultimately the book comes across weakly on both fronts. As a historical book, way too many critical details were glossed over. As a management philosophy book, it deals too much with widely scattered specifics rather than focusing on the principles involved. From what I could discern, it appears much of the success of the HP way can be attributed to similarities to open-book management. I thus would recommend "Open Book Management" by John Case over this book.

This book is a good overview. Its interesting to read how Hewlett Packard has grown from the little garage shop to the large conglomerate it is today. However, there are a few aspects that are clearly missing.

First, it would be nice to see what motivated both Bill Hewlett and David Packard to pursue starting up Hewlett Packard and even providing more detail in why they chose an engineering path. David Packard knew he did not want to follow his father's lawyer career path but he does not say why. He does mention his like for conducting sicentific experiments but does not ellaborate on what caused such a curiosity. Als, why were Bill Hewlett's grades so questionable that it took hi father's teching record to get him into Stanford?

Also, when David Packard talks about the many Hewlett Packard products he explains them in a manner where only someone familiar with Electronics Products would truly have a clear understanding of what he is talking about. And the writing style is overly to the point here with little in the way of pizzaz. The glossary helps a little bit but I should not have to find out at the end of the book, what I wanted to know at the beginning.

Packard does overglorify his involvement in political affairs. He puts himself a little too high up on the pedestal with this and that Hewlett Packard was the innovator of the work/personal life balance that many other companies have today.

None the less, the parts which Packard details the management style are explained in a good level of detail. Most readers will get the impression that David Packard was a fair boss who liked to insure that each of his employees was important. This is hammered home with an incident he had with a machinist. Also, the Management By Walking Around style is a detailed nicely through the example of corporate visits, departmental presentations, and company picnics.

Generally, this is worth reading especially if you can pick it up at your local library. Its just too bad that there are some missing details and a lack of excitement in the writing style. But the end result basically meets its intentions.