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bwadebaker
McKinney thinks innovative thinking can be taught? He should read "The Genesis ...
AndreGo
HP never had a culture of software, and probably never will. So good software ...
Retiring HP exec talks innovation, WebOS
Rick Merritt
11/28/2011 1:27 AM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. – August 18 has become a sort of Day That Will Live in Infamy at Hewlett-Packard. For Phil McKinney it was the day he started re-thinking his future, decided to retire as chief technologist of the company's PC group and resumed his career as an innovation guru.
It was no Pearl Harbor, but Leo Apotheker did drop a couple big bombs that day last August. He killed HP's WebOS smartphone and tablet business and said the company would consider splitting off its PC division. Weeks later, Apotheker lost his job as chief executive over the decisions which were widely criticized by observers including yours truly.
Meg Whitman mentioned August 18 a handful of times last week in the company's quarterly earnings call, her first as the new CEO. "Some people thought we were getting out of hardware entirely," she said of the confusion Apotheker created.
In her short time at the helm so far, Whitman has ended discussions about splitting of the PC unit (it stays), increased R&D spending ten percent and pledged to get the company back on track. Whitman reportedly gave herself until early December to decide what to do with WebOS.
For McKinney the brouhaha was a cue to segue back into full time work as a consultant and finish up work on "Beyond the Obvious," his book on innovation due out in February.
"With the [Apotheker] announcement and everything going on and the book coming out I decided now is a good time to think about what's the next thing I want to do," said McKinney speaking in his San Jose home office the day before Thanksgiving.
Many readers interpreted McKinney's August 22 blog post on seven laws of innovation as his veiled take on what was happening at HP. It talked in part about the need for patience to support innovation in ways that resonanted with the WebOS team that got the axe just weeks after its first product launch.
But if there will be any direct comment on his nine years at the IT giant it will come after his tenure officially ends December 31, perhaps in a subsequent book. In the meantime, he's giving guarded praise for Whitman, the fourth HP CEO in nine years.
"She is saying the right things, now it's just a matter of execution and walking the talk," McKinney said, citing her moves to rebuild R&D budgets.
He also offered Whitman some unsolicited advice: "Be aware of the power of culture; It can be helpful or a roadblock.
"Culture eats strategy for lunch," said McKinney. "You may think the CEO makes the calls, but culture has at least as huge an influence as any strategy you come up with," he said.
"HP has an incredibly strong culture--Bill and Dave still walk the halls," he said. "It’s a heavily engineering-driven organization fueled on innovation, so when you shortchange innovation whether through suddenly stopping programs people committed to or reducing budgets, it runs very counter to the culture and builds resistance to anything from the executive suite," he added.
In other words, in the wake of scandals and missteps around Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd and Leo Apotherker, HP's good people are about four times bitten so ten times skeptical these days.
Next: Killer questions, WebOS
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zaphod42
11/28/2011 2:02 AM EST
On what are you basing your assertion that the webOS business will not be revived? Officially, it's still up in the air, but Meg promised a final decision by 4 weeks from the last all-hands, which I believe is this week.
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rick.merritt
11/28/2011 12:13 PM EST
I checked around and you are right. Whitman gave herself until early December to decide what to do with WebOS. I updated the story.
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BobDBuilder
11/28/2011 8:41 AM EST
It's the WebOS HARDWARE business that HP killed. Software is still in the air as Zaphod points out, but HP has continued to release enhancements and provide support to developers since Leo's disastrous announcement.
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kineard
11/28/2011 9:01 AM EST
The writer is correct. WebOS is likely dead. The board and ceo of HP have marginalized webOS to the point that financially it would be very expensive to resorect it and HP's board has already shown that it was unwilling to make the financial or long term commitment to make webOS successful.
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zaphod42
11/28/2011 10:42 AM EST
Likely dead, based on what? Even if that were obvious, it shouldn't be reported as fact. There has been enough misinformation thrown around concerning this issue. hp killed webOS hardware, and the software decision is forthcoming. It could still be sold, licensed, spun (doubtful), or fed to the open source community (double-doubtful).
BTW - The 4-week deadline that Meg set is actually 12/6, I believe, so it could be another week.
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rick.merritt
11/28/2011 12:14 PM EST
Zaphod42 was right, Whitman gave herself until early December to decide what to do with WebOS...So sound off: What do you think she should do?
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Fidolido
11/28/2011 12:26 PM EST
I'm not a CEO and I don't know what the future holds down the line in terms of profits... but I think in the long run, it could be worth the time and effort. a competitor to Apple.
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goafrit
12/2/2011 11:36 AM EST
I share this insight - Apple is the thing.
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Fidolido
11/28/2011 12:24 PM EST
If they can develop WebOS to be more Linux based, it would allow a larger following and more compatibility. The system is fast, and easier to use, and battery life for the current units is great. as a tablet, it could use some refining but as a competitor, it's a tiger. I wouldn't mind a better browser for the current WebOS but for what it's currently worth, it does what I need.... I like the fact that the most popular game out there has been ported to the WebOS platform.... Angry Birds.... lol
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chanj
11/28/2011 1:33 PM EST
If HP decides to abandon WebOS, opening it up to the OpenSource community may not be a bad idea.
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docdivakar
11/28/2011 3:10 PM EST
Taking a page from Mr. Phil McKinney's playbook, after re-strategizing HP,, one should allow Meg Whitman not to become a prey for the Rule of 18!
But I see what @Fidolido is saying -HP could become a worthy competitor to a post-Jobs Apple!
MP Divakar
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selinz
11/28/2011 3:59 PM EST
It's interesting what's going on with the Blackberry tablets at the moment. big price drops, Best buy cancelling orders... Same fate?
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rick.merritt
11/28/2011 9:21 PM EST
Too bad, in my view. The sw is very sophisticated and it's a fine product...just too darned small a screen
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Patk0317
11/28/2011 5:36 PM EST
If you cannot be #1 #2 or #3 in an industry then you shouldn't be in it unless you have a secure niche (making military grade stuff for example), or a good chance of displacing one of the top guys. IMHO after the dust settles it will be Android, then iOS followed by a Windows OS and no profitable place for a 4th or 5th OS.
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kdboyce
11/28/2011 8:56 PM EST
Patk0317 has it right - a basic tenant of marketing as well. In mature markets, #1 is Wonderful, #2 is terrific if you can hold on to the position, #3 is terrible since you are more likely to slip than gain, and #4 & #5 is "Forget it!"
However, like the cell phone markets, top players have now receded and their share taken up by others. For example ZTE just became the #4 cellphone maker in the world and 5 years ago you would not have counted them for that. Usually those kind of shifts are caused by mis-steps of the leaders, not by giant leaps in strategy of the former underdog.
If the decision on WebOS is to proceed, it will be a bit like farming, e.g. There's a lot of acreage to plow before any crop comes up, and then you don't know if you have a viable market for it when the crop is ready. Oh..don't forget the weather, er.. environment changes during the process. Those tend to be unpredictable.
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JerryPatterson
12/6/2011 1:03 AM EST
I like the farming analogy (being from Iowa :) ). If sticking with WebOS is like plowing and tending vast acres, then WebOS is the latest cutting edge seed breed, where if you actually continue to tend to it and care for it, it will produce crop.
HP don't plow it WebOS under simply because of one hail storm.
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rick.merritt
11/28/2011 9:22 PM EST
That's the conventional wisdom, but meanwhile it's weird to see the world's biggest IT company with no clear smartphone or tablet strategy.
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hm
11/28/2011 10:01 PM EST
These are few of HP's known problems. But they may have many more short comings in other aspects of buisness. It looks very difficult for them to recover.
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Sheetal.Pandey
11/29/2011 12:46 AM EST
The other day I was reading about mobile OS in the market and dont remember about WebOS. With Android,Symbian and others its a tough cometition. But I guess would study somethin gmore about WebOS before commenting more..
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Patrick Van Oosterwijck
11/29/2011 9:58 AM EST
WebOS seems technically excellent. With its use of web technologies for app development, it is developer's heaven compared to the low level environments of Android and iOS. In my mind, it all comes down to corporate commitment. Without solid commitment from HP, app developers are not going to bother to support it. Without app developers' support, the platform is nowhere. HP paid a lot of money to get WebOS and then killed it by showing lack of commitment. How stupid.
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Himanshu_Gupta
11/29/2011 12:16 PM EST
culture influencing the strategy of a company suits when the things are going in the right direction. For example, in case of Nokia the board hired an outsider just to change the culture so that he can save them.
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R0ckstar
11/29/2011 2:41 PM EST
HP never should have bought WebOS in the first place. It was already a day late & $10 short when they bought it instead of letting it die like they should have. The only possible future for WebOS is open source, or none. I say give the open source community WebOS as a Christmas present, and at least they may get something in return eventually, even if not what was envisioned in their original grandiose delusions.
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ronetna
11/29/2011 8:26 PM EST
I use a WebOs TouchPad everyday. My daughter has an IPad2, which she uses everyday as well.
The TouchPad is a good product, but I believe HP shot themselves in the foot when they initially priced the TouchPad on par with the IPad2. That made a lot of people, who were curious and expecting to buy a WebOS tablet, to think twice about it, or to delay their purchase decision - expecting the inevitable promotions and rebates.
Then Leo effectivelly killed the platform after a few weeks in the market - and after months and months of developement - due to "poor" sales. Give me a break.
A software platform needs hardware to run on in order to evolve - if they liquidated their stock of Touchpads, and smartphones, they now have a stagnant piece of the market. No new hardware for WEbOS will be available in the foreseable future.
So, with that, the platform roadmap reaches a dead end, and there is not much incentive to continue to refine WebOS. There is going to be no TouchPad2... Unless Meg revives the product line. She will need, among other things, to provide a clear commitment to the market/customers and the app developers.
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Rich Krajewski
11/29/2011 10:03 PM EST
The black T-shirt and sports jacket were a good combination, but I think he's missing a gold chain.
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Neo1
11/30/2011 12:02 AM EST
The usual blunders from the tip of the corporate pyramid which rolls down with great speed and is almost impossible to undo.
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ReneCardenas
11/30/2011 11:26 AM EST
IMHO, there is plenty of growing markets for more than 3 platforms to share sales.
HP is showing signs of losing confidence in its capabilities. So sad, there is the need of strong competiotion to improve product.
I am convinced that left to Apple alone, innovation would be very limited.
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misland
12/2/2011 6:23 PM EST
Memo to HP: Keep developing webOS. It's a leading edge product (based on Linux) and you don't have any other innovative products so far along in the development cycle.
As an early webOS user, I'd say that HP's first marketing mistake was to not initially launch the upgraded Pre3 phone before launching the Touchpad. There was already pentup demand out there from the original Palm Pre owners, such as myself, who desired to upgrade their phones to the newer webOS, with the slightly larger displays. Apple did not make this mistake.
Then HP should have launched the Touchpad. Afterall, it had the "touch to share" data xfer feature with the new webOS phones.
I purchased the Touchpad from ebay 2 months ago and I'm very satisfied with it. While it's not perfect, it's a little heavy, but it has better tactile handling ergonomics than the ipad. My 6 year old nephew was able to use it for hours.
Initially there was some lag time when launching apps, but after the last software upgrade, 6 weeks ago, it's become a very speedy operating system. And I can watch both Flash and HTML5 video on the superb display.
Remember, Apple's initial tablet was the "Newton"(as was Palm's hybrid the "Folio").
I think for a quasi first generation product, the Touchpad and webOS make for a strong foundation from which to grow.
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Saturation
12/4/2011 10:16 AM EST
HP of today may have a remnant of Bill and Dave's HP, but that's Agilent today. HP of old made devices for engineers, so it was an engineer to engineer affair, almost like a B2B. HP since 1999 is consumer focused.
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analog marketer
12/4/2011 2:45 PM EST
A partnership where both Amazon and HP support the Web OS could gain some momentum
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JerryPatterson
12/6/2011 12:51 AM EST
It is my *earnest* desire that HP will ultimately decide to bet on WebOS and re-release the Pre3 and cast it as a relaunch - "bigger and better" so to speak.
iOS is cute - webOS is serious. No tablet device out there can do what a webOS device can do (in my opinion). Half way through an e-mail I typing, oops, I just got a text, no problem, {taps notification} I'll make a quick SMS reply and it's back to my....oh wait, I don't like this song, {swipe and flick, flick over to my music app} ahhhh that's better, ok back to my e-mail.....
I know, I know everyone probably on here knows how great it is. But, to give this up.....I'm beside myself. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do if webOS completely ends, and if it doesn't end but HP dumps it, I'm buying whatever it is that has it - there's just no reason to waste time on anything else. If it dies, I swear I'm going to write my own, best I can to mimic the best aspects of it (and fix the calendar app, for Pete's sake :-P)
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JerryPatterson
12/6/2011 12:51 AM EST
Ms. Whitman.....by all means, I beg you.....please keep webOS alive AT HP!!! HP can do U*IX well. HP can do hardware well. HP can do systems integration pretty well. HP can do scale, really, really well. You have some of the best hardware designers in the world. What other company would webOS thrive at? The possibilities with this tool in your hands and the intersection of technology that is HP could be revolutionary, but you've got to incubate it!
Everyone complains about app availability....they did for years with MacOS too. With proper support of the development community and low moderate investment in open tools that the community can help to improve.
Nothing overcomes a serious short term blow to a product like a long term commitment, a few excellent products that undercut the competition, and a steady resilience to the blows and temporal bumps that any emerging industry will throw at you. Call it wishful thinking, but I firmly believe that webOS would have the staying power, because it is so great, as long as HP chooses to back it and show it's serious about it.
(Full Disclosure: While I work for HP now - not with or in webOS in any way, I bought my first device well before I was hired and instantly loved it. I bought a touchpad and would use it everywhere if it had cell access and was fully poised to purchase a Pre3 - I'd still relish the chance to do so --- Oh and these are my *personal* opinions and beliefs not that of my employer or anybody else, for that matter!)
Well.....you asked for an opinion on this....there's mine. I know it sounds a bit over the top, but it's a greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread product that deserves a real chance (and...um a real calendar app).
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AndreGo
12/12/2011 3:32 PM EST
HP never had a culture of software, and probably never will. So good software team will be formed, and leave to the Google, Microsoft etc...
The HP board of directors's silly decisions to pick up CEO's on lack of skills as prime asset, will make H.P becoming slowly irrelevant until it is ready to be acquired at a low cost.
This is crony capitalism at its worst.
Here the word crony refers to a litany of scandals who have ridden a company which was the crown jewel of silicon valley.
What a shame.
Time to short HP?
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bwadebaker
12/12/2011 4:36 PM EST
McKinney thinks innovative thinking can be taught? He should read "The Genesis Machine" by James P. Hogan. It's like saying genius can be taught. I've been in the business forty years; I've never seen it taught. I've seen bean counting being taught but not innovation.
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