Conference 7.286::digital

    
    Ref: .0
    
    The story in the base note raises further questions:
    
    Do the 125,000 employees of the Digital community truly work together
    in harmony?
    
    What "barns" did we collectively, together, raise in FY89 for which we
    let out a loud cheer in unison, "Yeah!  We together built this!"
    
    What "barns" are we together raising in FY90?
    
    What "barns" are we together planning on raising in FY91?
    
    Is there a TRUE sense of community where we are building something
    together as a linked collective effort?
    
    When talking with our kids and neighbors, what "barn raising" Digital
    stories are we telling that make each of us swell with pride?
    
    How many of our 125,000 Digital family members cannot relate to any of
    the above?  If so, is this a symptom of a lack of true teamwork
    actually existing among all family members?
    
    Is there a sense of collective accomplishment, meaning something great
    achieved that required EVERYONE's contribution, where all felt they had
    contributed and were recognized as an equal contributor?
    
    

    I think the reinstated car plan was a collective "barn."

	I see the DECWORLD events as "barn raising" type events. The team
	work and group efforts to pull them off are amazing. We didn't
	have a US one last year but one is planned for 1990.

			Alfred

    Another rousing cheer for the barn-raising of DECworld/ville.  The
    teamwork, long hours, & general Digital comradery in the few days or
    weeks prior to the opening day of the event is unbelievable, a certain
    "must-do" if you've never done it.
    
    re .-1, yes I also heard there is one planned for summer 1990 in
    Boston, and Europe is also planning one in Sept 1990.  But let us not
    get into a rathole, check out (I think) KACIE::DECWORLD for info.
    
    Jon

    
    DECworld seems to be the best example of our "barn" but it only
    directly involves, what, 30,000 employees, and most certainly does not
    represent a collective involvement and achievement of virtually all
    125,000 employees.  I do not sense a feeling of TOTAL community
    achievement, demonstrated and proven, say where on January 1 of this
    year, where each and every employee looked back on the calendar year
    and beamed with pride, saying, "I and every employee achieved and
    accomplished, working in unison as a total Digital family, this...(fill
    in the "barn raising" blank).
    

    Another example of a DEC "barn" is the support DEC folks give to the
    UNITED WAY campaign.  I believe that without this kind of support and
    caring many of the folks UNITED WAY helps, with the contributions/time
    and love supplied by DEC supporters, would find this country to be very
    callous and uncaring.  

    My own most significant "barn raising" was building an ACT from
    scratch. We had no building, practically no people, very little
    equipment ... only a concept/dream of what we needed. 

    We jumped through major hurdles to get the building approvals and
    required funds, hired the people, ordered the equipment, and drew the
    plans. The two most emotional days I have ever had in my business career
    were:

    	1)	The day I walked into the building that we FINALLY got
    		approvals to lease and saw the paint marks on the 
    		cement floor of where the walls were supposed to go.

    	2)	The day the facility finally opened.

    Both occasions caused me to get "a little choked up". The team effort
    that it took to get this thing off the ground was incredible. People
    came to work in blue jeans and moved equipment, mopped floors, swept up
    trash, and did "whatever it took". I've never witnessed as much
    teamwork before, and haven't seen it again since.

    Although I think that we still have a "good team" and that we are
    always available to one another for help when it's needed, in the two
    years since the "grand opening" we've been unable to duplicate the same
    sense of purpose that we had in those early days.

    Our goals are convoluted ... we serve many masters and have many
    "objectives". We're measured on stuff that doesn't make sense
    sometimes, and what DOES make sense is often overlooked.

    We had a lot more fun when we had only one goal in mind ... build an
    ACT and get it opened. The goal was so clear. It was so easy to
    visualize. It was so easy to get creative and crazy about how to get it
    done. It was fun.

    Sigh ... 

    /se

    re .7
    
    Ahhh Steve, you hit the nail on the head ->
    
    > The goal was so clear. It was so easy to
    > visualize. It was so easy to get creative and crazy about how to get it
    > done. It was fun.
    
    It couldn't be simplier, and yet .....

I have a question; Why must we have something that 120,000 employees can look
back on with pride? Why shouldn't each of the 120,000 do something individually
that they can look back on with pride, I think this is a more realistic and
reachable goal and would have the same desirable effect.

- George

    re: .7  (a slight diversion, but...)
    
    I've toured Steve's ACT, and I must say that it is _very_ impressive.
    If this is what clear objectives and a "barn-raising" attitude can
    accomplish (and I believe it very definitely is), then it is clearly
    a vision of what the whole corporation can accomplish.
    
    Vision, Determination, Priorities, Accountability.
    
    -DM-

    re: .9
    
    This is the commonly accepted definition of anarchy and while I
    think your heart is in the right place, I also think you should
    think this through a bit more.
    
    Actually it's a lot like what is actually going on right now in
    Digital.

>    This is the commonly accepted definition of anarchy and while I
>    think your heart is in the right place, I also think you should
>    think this through a bit more.
    
Anarchy? You call doing your job in such a manner that you can justifiably
look back on it with pride, anarchy? Let me tell you that I have done just
that, as an individual, as a team member, as part of DECWorld (20,000 as
estimated here) and I do not consider it anarchy. I don't feel that its
realistic to expect that 120,000 employees will be given a common task
at any time, unless its to stay employed, so we must be happy with what
opportunities we are given.

maybe we ought to attempt "doghouse raising" before we attempt "barns".

- George 

    re: .12
    
    I don't think anything is wrong with looking back at your work with
    pride.   I was commenting on the picture you painted (at least in
    my mind) of 120,000 people going off and doing their own thing
    as 120,000 individuals each seeking their own goal.
    That is anarchy and that's how I took your reply, sorry if I read
    it wrong.
    
    I do think there should be one goal though for the corporate entity.
    It could be as simple as 'make xx% profit' or 'xx% growth'.  Every
    one needs goals that tie together and aggregate as they get to this
    single top end goal.    I don't think we have that today.
    
    We have [arguably] 120,000 individual cowboys/girls doing their
    absolute best, but damn few of them know if it's the right thing
    that they do and that's a problem.

Re: .7, .9   anarchy vs. total team-ship

There's clearly a lot of room in the middle.
I too wonder why we have to a a single corporate dream that everybody
participates in directly.  We can raise hundreds of barns (or everything
from doghouses to sports areana, if you prefer).
They aren't all the same, they aren't even all in the same city, yet
each success can enrich the whole community and beyond without
everybody being part of each effort.

And the efforts don't even have to be part of the same vision.

As someone stated in another topic (albeit somewhat facetiously, I believe),
"we aren't a team, we're a league."  And at that, not all our games go on 
at the same time, or at the same place, and they don't even all 
affect one another, so we're not even necessarily self-competing.

We don't all have to share a vision to be or feel productive.  Let's
accept that small successes are successes, and appreciate them singly.

- tom]

    re .14
    
    Tom - you're quite right. The only thing I'd add is that these
    individual "barn raisings" (or doghouse buildings or skyscraper
    placements, or whatever) need to have a place in the scheme of
    corporate goals. (I believe the theoreticians call this "Alignment")
    
    I think this is where some of the previous "anarchy" comments are
    directed. If everybody "did their own thing" because it seemed like the
    right thing to do at the time, developed teamwork, and felt good, we
    could be in REAL trouble if these individual efforts weren't in
    alignment with corporate goals. 
    
    In my own case, as good as it felt to finally achieve that goal of
    having designed, built, and opened a facility like this, it could have
    been a "zero value proposition" had it not been in alignment with a
    corporate goal "Thou shalt establish 16 ACTs in the United States."
    
    I sense what's broken is a lack of understanding on most of our parts
    today of what the Corporate goals are, and how they affect the
    operating units that we currently manage.
    
    If we understood that, we could, as managers, raise more freaking
    barns in a fiscal year than there are Billy Bob's in Texas.
    
    /se
    
    

    Shouldn't forget though that extraordinary accomplishments like barn
    raisings are a little like wars.  The "right" side gets a lot of good
    things done and there is a celebration.  Then everyone needs a rest.
    KO's decision on DECworlds could be a good example.  No one or no
    organization can stay on top all the time.  I think we are in a respite
    right now and another upturn in Digital is just beginning.
    
    FWIW, Fred

    This topic reminded me of a story involving one of our customers.
    It's not quite like a barn-raising, but I was quite moved by
    the scope and magnitude of the event, and visibly impressed with
    the effects on the people involved.  I've often wished we had the
    opportunity to use a similar technique in DEC:
    
    GE Plastics, a $3.5MM, value-added manufacturer of high-end
    engineering materials, recently acquired the chemical manufacturing
    division of Borg-Warner.  This acquisition gave GE a better rounded
    suite of products for their customers and just about doubled their
    manufacturing staff and capacity.
    
    Borg, however, was not like GE.  The manufacturing plants had ways
    of doing things which were not up to the high standards of GE, and
    the culture was, of course, very different.  During the course of
    absorbing the various plants and colsolidating the operations, it
    became clear that a vast team-building exercise would be necessary
    in order to accelerate the merger on a human level.
    
    GE Plastics manufacturing exempts meet once a year to discuss common
    issues and work on common problems.  This is an expensive meeting,
    since it involves sending ALL of their manufacturing staff (about
    500 people) off to a resort for a week, but it is well worth the
    expense.  After the Borg-Warner acquisition, that group was doubled.
    Although the meeting agenda itself would allow many of the
    consolidation issues to be addressed and worked on, it was decided
    that something that would help to get people to know one another
    and learn to work together was also in order.  The meeting was to
    be held in San Diego.
    
    What was decided was that the entire group (some 1,000 people) would
    work over the course of 2 days on completely refurbishing a building
    for use by a local Boy's club.  This would involve everyone in
    manufacturing from the VP down to the engineers and production
    supervisors. 
    
    Many tasks needed to be done. The inside of the building needed
    to be demolished, walls needed erecting, finishing and painting,
    floors needed to be layed, stairwells painted, rubble carted away,
    the outside needed to be completely landscaped, windows replaced,
    etc.  GE would provide the materials and the manpower.
    
    Now, although 2000 person-days was more than enough effort to pull
    this project off, you don't usually see this sort of effort expended
    all within 2 days!  Obviously, a major coordination and cooperative
    effort would be required.
    
    The group was divided into teams, each charged with a single function,
    i.e. demolition, painting, plastering, glazing, etc.  Each team
    chose a leader(s) and the leaders of all the teams got together
    ahead of time to devise a work plan.  Once the overall coordination
    was agreed upon, the individual teams met to decide how their
    individual tasks would be performed.
    
    To make a long story short, the project was successful.  A local
    charity received a gift they could not have afforded otherwise.
    The GE people got to know one another and learned how to work together 
    as a team instead of as individual fiefdoms.  It was truly amazing
    to see these people come back from this meeting.  They behaved almost
    as though they had been through a religious experience.  The
    transformation from an "us/them" to a "we" attitude was impressive.
    
    Al
    

	Having myself been "raised" in the midwest, I was also lucky enough
    that even though I was somewhat of a city kid, my father used to take me
    out to see the various Amish and Mennonite towns nearby on occasion just
    to get a feel for what simple living and community is all about.  On one
    such occasion, we took part in a real barn raising where the whole
    community pitched in and helped build a barn - then later we were treated
    to an good big wholesome meal at one of the nearby farms.  I must agree
    that there was a certain sense of accomplishment felt by all there that
    doesn't compare to anything found in the city.

	Keep in mind however, that this barn was a real barn that was going
    to be put to use the following day in a real family farming operation.
    In other words, while the event was a good team building exercise and was
    good for the community, the primary goal of the event was the very practical
    goal of building a barn which was neccessary for the family farm involved.
    I doubt whether I, nor anyone else, would have felt the same sort of sense
    of accomplishment if the purpose of the barn was nothing more than just an
    exercise in team building.  I'm not saying that team building exercises
    aren't worthwhile, just that they don't always provide the same sense of
    accomplishment as one gets from building something that will really be used.

	Another point is this: how many people does it take to raise a barn?
    50 - maybe more, but certainly not 125,000.  The notion of everyone at DEC
    physically gathering together to build a single barn or whatever is not
    only logistically unfeasable, but impractical as well.  Even if we were
    to collect in one big gigantic woods meeting which included every DECcie,
    the most that could be accomplished would be a warm and fuzzy sense of
    community, but it is unlikely that much of anything practical or useful
    would be accomplished.  On top of that, if the goal of such an exercise
    was to improve DEC's stance in the industry, then the cost of such an
    exercise would be prohibitive.

	Even DECWORLD/VILLEs, while they are extremely good examples of barn
    raisings at DEC, they still only include a subset of DECcies as someone has
    already pointed out.  Woods meetings build teams within organizations,
    and there are probably other examples of barn raising within Digital as
    well, but none of them physically include all DEC employees.

	So, how can 125,000 build a barn?  Well, look at the notesfiles!
    All 125,000 of us are able to pitch in and build distributed barns using
    the various networking tools we create and support.  We are building barns
    right here!  I bet that if we continue to put our heads together, that
    we will continue to come up with really neat new kinds of distributed
    barns as well.  Maybe this idea could be carried a step further and a
    distributed application might fall out of it (DECBARN - which could stand
    for DEC - Business Application Raising Network, or some such thing)?

				    -davo