Tech Tools For Success
IBM’s Transition
Steering entrepreneurs and small companies in new technology directions is one thing, but steering one of the world’s largest companies in a profitable direction is another.
During his tenure at IBM, Wladawsky-Berger helped lead the company in bold new directions, leveraging Internet-based computing and embracing open-source models.
At the time he was promoted to vice president, IBM was undergoing a difficult transition from its roots as a mainframe systems and hardware provider. In the 1990s, many pundits were saying that IBM was having an identity crisis, had too much “legacy system” baggage, and that it’s best days were behind it. Its market share was being eroded by competitors with more modern and nimbler solutions.
In his best-selling book, “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?” Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM who is widely credited for shepherding the computer giant through this difficult time, referred to Wladawsky-Berger as “an extraordinary executive.”
As Gerstner wrote: “[Wladawsky-Berger’s> job was to evangelize our network strategy across all IBM’s business units, and to get them to change their R&D and marketing plans to embrace the Net. (In what represented at least a minor leap of faith, we called Irving’s group the Internet Division.)”
That Internet Division helped IBM remain the world’s largest computer company. Moreover, the company, which just celebrated its 100th birthday, continues to pioneer new concepts in areas such as artificial intelligence, business analytics, collaboration, cloud computing, nanotechnologies and even smart city planning.
Wladawsky-Berger is modest about his achievements, preferring not to take personal credit for his role in IBM’s transformation, or for being in the forefront of a technology revolution that has reshaped the world’s business and economic landscape.
Instead, he says, the innovations he helped put in place were based on ideas that came directly from IBM customers. The key to success is listening carefully to customers, and building upon what they are doing, he says.
“The bulk of innovation is in the marketplace,” he emphasizes. With social media and Internet collaboration, there are plenty of opportunities for connecting with customers. But success still requires active listening: “You want to be in touch. You must listen.”
Tips for Succeeding in the Digital Era
1) Embrace technology. No matter how non-technical your business traditionally was. Take that example of a plumber: customers now look to their plumber for efficiency in the water and heating usage. Wladawsky-Berger says, “This puts the plumber at a totally different level if they didn’t have those tools. And it makes them able to do not only do more for their clients, but also to charge more money, to make more money.”
2) Look outside for new ideas. “You need people talented enough on staff, but the bulk of your innovation will come from the community.”
3) Master customer service. “One thing people have less and less of is time. Therefore, anything you can do that will save them time and save them aggravation they will value. And they will value doing business with someone where everything goes smoothly, goes very fast, and that’s customer service.”
4) Don’t be discouraged by the headlines. “Some people say this is the worst time to start a business. I’m saying this is the best time to be an entrepreneur and start a business, because you have more power at your fingertips to get more done than ever before.”
5) Think like an entrepreneur. “This may be the worst time in living memory to be a passive worker, as opposed to an entrepreneur who has to fight like crazy to come up with the ideas and the work. This may be an era of a lot of workers who have lost jobs that are not coming back. We really need them to think more like entrepreneurs – because that is the future.”
