Hello Dieter,
I can only give my opinion on things ... and I do not mean to "bash" Novell as a company on this front. But I *do* want to see some changes made ...
> Scott do you have any indication why those people are
> departing?
Most seem to indicate that they have no interest in "wasting" time when so many other opportunities are out there. The consistent theme seems to be that employees feel that in order to succeed, they have to "fight" to demonstrate what is possible ... and they have to spend huge amounts of time working their way through politics. They have to ensure that their ideas do not conflict with the political ambitions of the people around them. They do not see strong "support" from management in pursuing these ideas and innovations. Some management provides support, but it seems rare.
If management has some "good" reason for behaving in this way, they fail to *educate* and *explain* to the employees why these decisions are made. The employees are treated as though they exist in some artificial, strict hierarchy and are not to ever think of asking why, or expecting an explanation.
And even when they have fought through everything to get close to success, their ideas are then "stolen" by the idealess ... and management seems to "endorse" this practice time and time again.
> Is this the same reason you are not working for the
> company any more?
Yes ... I decided that if I was going to "waste" time, then why would I do it caged in an office in Provo? I can "waste" time anywhere ... including on vacations and up in the mountains. ;-)
There are far too many opportunities out there in this industry to have fun, and to make lots of money. The things that people often do not understand is that *time* is your most valuable asset! You might lose a lot of things, but you can always make them back ... if you have enough time. I found that working in an environment where it required huge amounts of time to make any progress just wasn't worth it ... I wasn't having fun. A constant game of three steps forward ... two steps back.
Related to the examples I give above, a year ago at Brainshare the project that I was working on, digitalme, was "taken over" by this same management. We had an incredible team of people who had worked together and delivered for Brainshare exactly what we were asked to. Yet the week after Brainshare the project was "taken" from us ... given to some buddies of those in charge ... and although I have asked numerous times, I have *never* been given any explanation of why this was done! Even at this Brainshare, some of the ex-digitalme engineers came up and asked "What happened? Why did they destroy a good team when we were really starting to roll?" It's not so amazing that buddies of the "old guard" ended up owning something that was starting to get some spotlight ...
I realized that I didn't have time to waste playing these stupid childrens games ... I made a commitment to Eric Schmidt that I was going to work to deliver something that met the objectives he provided to us ... and I still feel that obligation. However I will admit that I suck at being politically correct, and I don't feel like wasting time and lining my pockets with shareholders money.
> Is this because some do not like changes and still have
> the upper hand? Would you please comment on this?
Yes and no. I'm sure that the new COO, and all of his friends, are enjoying themselves immensely in this "new Novell" ... but I will say that this "old guard" doesn't have the support of many of the employees. Another consistent message from the people I talk with is "... why the promotion? Didn't Eric and the board recognize where the problem is?" By now, I would have assumed that it was obvious where the "cancer" was inside the company.
I do believe that if someone would just break this log-jam, and carve out the cancer, the *real* employees of Novell would step forward and make this company what it could be! Everything that is needed is in place ... it's just being held back by a few people, in key positions, who seem to be afraid of a future that they don't understand.
Scott C. Lemon |
