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To: TigerPaw who wrote (136718)	7/15/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: Tom K.	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 176387

Do you suppose the new CEO of Compaq may be T.Waite of Gateway Saw this yesterday... sorry about the formatting.... Tom Gateway Exec's Principled Stand Is a Model for Building Worker Loyalty > > By JUDITH HARKHAM SEMAS > > It appeared that Compaq's nearly $7 billion takeover of South Dakota's > mail-order computer > retailer Gateway 2000 the number two direct marketer of personal > computers behind Dell > Computer--was a done deal. Contracts had been negotiated and were ready > for signatures. > New York City-based Hill & Knowlton, Gateway's public relations firm, > had begun a media > release. And according to a recent piece in Time magazine, Ted Waitt > founder and 46 percent > owner, had even dispatched a courier to deliver the news to Gateway's > key executives in > foreign offices. But Waitt left Compaq standing at the altar. Refusing > to sign on the dotted line at > the last minute, he walked away from a deal that, at the stroke of his > pen, would have > increased the value of his 36 million Gateway shares by about 33 > percent, from more than $2 > billion to $3 billion. What made Gateway's founder decide not to cash > in with Compaq? Both > Compaq and Gateway are keeping silent, but insiders say that when > Compaq began flexing its > corporate muscle, as in "You work for us now," Waitt balked and then > walked, only days, > possibly hours, before the deal was to be announced. Although exact > details aren't clear, > apparently the thought of Gateway's executives being treated as > underlings instead of equals > was what killed the deal for Waitt. According to a quoted source close > to the pony tailed > visionary, "Anyone who really knows Ted Waitt knows that there are > things more important to > him than money. Two of those things are Gateway and its people." > Commenting on Waitt's > decision to pass up a $3 billion personal windfall and strike a blow > for independence his own > and that of the people who work for him ethics and management > consultant Dr. Arlyne Diamond > said, "It's rare and wonderful when people of conscience stand up for > what they believe. We > need more CEOs doing that." In creating a decision-making tree about > anything in life, she said, > our core values form the trunk and roots. People who hold firmly to > their core values, using > them as fixed decision making parameters, experience no conflict or > ambiguity in making even > the tough decisions. "It's people to whom nothing matters, people to > whom no values are clear, > who have such difficulty making decisions," she said. "The extent to > which we honor our core > values is the extent to which we can move forward with each other in a > comfortable, trusting > way." In her surveys on creativity in Silicon Valley companies, Dr. > Diamond has found > widespread recognition of the importance of building trust, loyalty, > safety, consistency, and > cohesion in work teams. "If the CEO is noted for humanistic practices > and sticking to > his or her core human values," the Santa Clara-based consultant > observed, "there is a positive > trickle-down effect on the attitude of the company's entire executive > and management team." > A high level of trust in relationships gives people the freedom to > explore and express. It allows > The kind of risk-taking essential to the creativity needed in system > like continuous improvement > And creative process solutions. "When you feel safe, you're able to > think about better ways of > doing things, not just rowing the boat," Dr. Diamond said. "Creativity > is not a function purely of > intelligence and talent; it is also a function of relationship, and > closely linked to issues of trust > and safety." Companies seeking to encourage creativity in their > organizations need to look at > what fires the fan and what fires they stamp out, what behaviors they > reinforce and what > behaviors they ignore or penalize. "When upper management reinforces > value behavior, then > value behavior flourishes in the firm," she said. "When upper > management reinforces the > 'get-rich-quick' behaviors, then those are the behaviors that prevail. > And a get-rich-quick value > system extinguishes trust and safety in the work force." In taking such > a strong stand on behalf > of independence and respect for his employees, Waitt upped the level of > trust within his > organization exponentially because, as Dr. Diamond pointed out, "you > get what you model and > what you reinforce." This is a lesson for Silicon Valley employers to > take to heart especially > those who seek to slow the spinning door of employment as record > numbers of scarce technical > talent dash from one high bidder to the next. Judith Harkham Semas is > an internationally > published freelance writer/ editor based in San Jose, Calif. > Specializing in business and lifestyle > subjects, she writes and edits for companies, professionals, and print > media. She can be > reached at 408-267-5274, fax 408-267-5275; e-mail: > judithharkham@semas.com.