HP Way interviews for CHM

For an alcove of the Computer History Museum Timeline project, due to debut at the end of 2010 or so, there is intention to have an "HP WAY" video clip since HP helped pioneer the spirit of Silicon Valley.  I interviewed four 'oldtimers' this week -- Al Bagley, Carl Cottrell, Bob Grimm, and Art Fong.  Each interview was approx 2 hours, and we covered a lot of ground.

The most interesting fact for me was the easy description each of the four had for how they decided things -- Dave and Bill were coaches, not deciders or directors.  Amazing to listen to each man describe significant events -- product strategy, marketing strategy, feature decisions, business approaches -- for which they felt responsible, and for which they made the decisions.

The range of responsibility and the level of trust that was exhibited is almost awe-inspiring.  Hard to imagine most CEOs today allowing such antics.