Reviews for The Hp Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company

The average rating for The Hp Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-10-30 00:00:00 Barbara Dixon Incredible little book about what was once one of the best places to work. I might have been brainwashed by the old-time HPers that I used to work with, but I think the ideas in this book on how to run a company are excellent. The presentation is simple and to-the-point, with some good stories to go with it. Along with my interactions with people at work, it helped me think about how I treat my children too. I can do better, and this book has inspired me to do so.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-10-12 00:00:00 Adam Miller I read this book to better understand the culture of my new employer, the Hewlett Foundation. I ended up learning so much. Until recently I had mistakenly thought that HP was a computer company that eventually got into the printer business. I didn�t realize that HP started out as a scientific instruments company that began designing and manufacturing various products that I had to look up in the dictionary: audio oscillators, wave analyzers, distortion analyzers, proximity fuses. I remember choosing between a Texas Instruments or Hewlett Packard calculator when I was in high school, but I had no idea that HP released a wristwatch calculator in 1977 � the Apple Watch of its day � for between $2,500 to $3,300 in 2014 dollars depending on your preference of stainless steel or gold. Nor did I know that Dave Packard worked in the Department of Defense at the height of the Cold War and Vietnam conflict. As far as business memoirs go, this one is a relative joy to read. Packard is a likable narrator who is self-confident enough to not seek credit for every HP accomplishment. If anything, he celebrates when HP was successful in spite of his decisions, such as when a maverick engineer designed a highly successful monitor that Packard and others had unwisely tried to kill off. If Packard takes pride in anything, it is not giving into the greed and luxury of the business class. When some Chinese executives visit his house, he heads to his woodworking workshop to make some chopsticks out of redwood. When Hewlett and Packard invited executives and politicians on deer hunting trips, they each were expected to lend a hand in washing dishes and cleaning up. In the 1980s, when the economic slowdown forced the company to consider laying off 10% of its staff, Hewlett and Packard asked their employees if they�d instead be willing to reduce the number of days they work each month from 20 to 18, and take a temporary 10% reduction in salary until the economy improved. They did, enjoying longer weekends and temporarily tightening their belts until the economy improved and everyone went back to full time employment without having had to lay anyone off. It�s easy to romanticize the past, but Hewlett and Packard really do seem to have had a stronger moral code than most entrepreneurs and business leaders today. It�s hard to know from a single book, but they seemed more sure of themselves, their values, and their ambitions compared to the business leaders you see in Silicon Valley today. I think there are two reasons for this. First, Hewlett and Packard both grew up with the values of taking individual responsibility for effort while contributing to community with their work. Today�s entrepreneurs are more worried about the valuation of their startup and retaining control over their boards. Second, HP was manufacturing actual products that made a clear contribution to electric engineering, if not society. Today, the most successful companies in Silicon Valley create �platforms� that are ultimately vehicles to sell advertisements, or to be acquired before they even make a profit. The HP Way is a useful book for someone like me wanting to learn more about the culture of the Hewlett Foundation. It�s a great book for a business leader thinking about the legacy of her or his company.