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Gerstner

It appears we are to have an intelligence czar with unprecedented power ... and responsibility. The question will soon turn to ... WHO?

I wish to offer a nominee. And I am thoroughly confident in the correctness of my suggestion, no matter how implausible a political likelihood.

Lou Gerstner.

Lou is smart. (Understatement.)
Lou is tough ... a "culture buster." (Understatement.)
Lou is unflinchingly honest. (Understatement.)
Lou gets things done. (Understatement.)
Lou gets & thrives on Big Org politics.
Lou grasps the Big Picture.
Lou sweats the details.

Lou's only shortfall is the lack of experience with a start-up, which the new intelligence apparatus is in many respects.

I could elaborate on any of the points above, but will choose but one: Lou is a ... Culture Buster. In his autobiography, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance, Gerstner admits the following: "If I could have chosen not to tackle the IBM culture head-on, I probably wouldn't have. My bias coming in was toward strategy, analysis and measurement. In comparison, changing the attitude and behaviors of hundreds of thousands of people is very, very hard. [Yet] I came to see in my time at IBM that culture isn't just one aspect of the game—it is the game." And it "is the game" for the new intelligence honcho. Frankly, I guessed that no one could break—and then remold—the IBM culture; I fully expected that the Board would eventually have to revert to the pre-Gerstner strategy and break up the company. In fact Gerstner did effectively destroy and then remold IBM, and most important to the new intelligence job, mostly vaporized the dysfunctional barriers between IBM's former baronies. This is something, in the corporate world, that stands 10.0+ on the Difficulty Scale ... and is a challenge that is 10X more significant than the sorts that, say, Welch faced at GE at the same time.

Washington is of course in a League of Its Own. Perhaps no one is up to the job. Let us just pray that Mr Bush and Mr Rove don't appoint a political hack and/or "Yes man."

N.B. On the topic of "dysfunctional barriers," you could do worse than to spend time with former Microsoft COO Robert Herbold's The Fiefdom Syndrome. It's perhaps the first book exclusively devoted to Barrier Busting. In Herbold's case he was quite successful at thwarting the growth of such barriers as Microsoft rapidly grew to Giantism.

I anxiously await your picks for I-tel Czar ...

Tom Peters posted this on 12/08/04.

Comments

Gerstner would have to learn an entirely new business...security. That would take a long time. I think that another candidate is better qualified and would not take any time to "learn" the new business. The problem is that he probably wouldn't take the job. Colin Powell seems to be the only person who could step in immediately and know what's going on and even more important...he probably knows better than anyone else what should go on!

Joel

Posted by Joel Heffner at December 8, 2004 9:59 AM

Dr. T - I agree with Lou as a pick - I'm a US government IT specialist - and to me that is the player experience we need ... Lou rules!!!

Posted by Freeman at December 8, 2004 10:06 AM

TP - knowing your overwhelming agreement with "Built To Last" by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, a book that I read when in my MBA program, I'm going to have to dig out that book, because they brought up Lou Gerstner. It may be okay to write the passage exactly under the restrictions of copyright laws, but for now, this thought from the book goes along with Joel's blog:

Collins and Porras recommend that, for a company to last like H-P and Disney, the CEO must come from within that company's industry. How does Lou Gerstner, coming to IBM with little knowledge of the computer industry, fit into that? Simply: it doesn't. IBM is looking for a shakeup, and now they'll probably get it. But is it the kind of shakeup necessary to help them remain on our list of great companies? (I doubt it.)

Well, we know what happened to IBM with Gerstner at the helm, heh heh . . .

Let's hope he gets offered the job of Intelligence Czar, and that he takes it.

Posted by Ron at December 8, 2004 10:38 AM

My concern with the whole approach of creating an "Intelligence Czar" to begin with is that it seems like creating a scapegoat in advance. There are, of course legitimate reforms to be made and this approach may even be an effective move, but I sense ulterior motives.

The Senate Intelligence Committee and the rest of the existing officials really didn't enjoy being called on the carpet for 9/11, and so they are creating an official that can be assigned all blame in the event that there is another massive intelligence failure. Maybe making one individual ultimately responsible is really the way to go, but boy, I wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole!

Posted by Christiana Ellis at December 8, 2004 10:45 AM

Whoever runs Intel, needs to learn/Run "Redstone" also. He who holds "Redstone is one of the custodians..!! And those who want to read more the new intel zoning ..google/search for this :"...found out is the US Department of Defense C41SR Cooperative Research Program which "has the mission of improving DoD's understanding of the national security implications of the Information Age."

......nuff said !!!

Posted by /pd at December 8, 2004 11:18 AM

looking for a good briefing document read -White House Memo H.R. 10 / S. 2845 !!

Posted by /pd at December 8, 2004 11:26 AM

According to several articles and "legitimate" websites, these are the names the White House is pushing for the new position of Director of National Intelligence:

DCI Porter Goss
Gov Tom Kean
General Michael Hayden
John Lehman
Sen. Joe Lieberman
Rep Pete Hoekstra
Rep Jane Harman

Looks to me like the "norm"...

Posted by Lee H. Igel at December 8, 2004 12:04 PM

I currently work as a legislative assistant in Washington, DC for a Congressman, and I can tell you without any hesitation that all of the people mentioned by the WH would fall under the HACK category.

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Peters about needing someone who knows how to radically change the culture of an organization as the new NDI. Smart people are fast learners, and experience isn't all that it's cracked up to be. George Tenet worked in one form or another in the intelligence business his whole life. He was certainly experienced, but is without question the definition of a DC HACK.

There is a 0% chance Bush will nominate someone like Gerstner, but it never hurts to dream.

On a final note, if you all are looking for someone to get excited about in 2008, read up on Governor Mark Sanford. Here is a website that was created to draft him to run for President in 2008:

buy a brand viagra

http://draftsanford.cjb.net/

Best,

Stephen

Posted by Stephen at December 8, 2004 3:00 PM

eh ??Stephen .. what do you mean "without question the definition of a DC HACK. " ??

could you pls define ??

Posted by /pd at December 8, 2004 8:22 PM

When I say that Tenet is a DC HACK, I simply mean that he has been mired in DC fantasyland for so long that he only knows how to think like a bureaucrat. DC is such a bubble, and the longer you stay here, the more you start to believe that that the government way is the way things should be done. When in reality, the government way is inefficient and lacks any sort of accountable standards.

For example, how does no one lose their job after Sept. 11? If you really read the 9-11 commission report, you can see that all the clues were out there. Putting them together is certainly not easy, but who said defending a country was easy. I could be wrong on this, but I don't believe Tenet has ever held a non-governmental job. He is a DC HACK. I hope that helps. Hope everyone is having a good day.

Best,

Stephen

Posted by Stephen at December 9, 2004 3:42 PM

Thanks Stephen. In my world they are called as 'diplo dinks' !!

Posted by /pd at December 9, 2004 4:29 PM

Just as an FYI: SAS has a really nice webcast coming up Monday with Mr. Herbold about his Fiefdom book. I enjoyed the book very much because of the "tactical" feel of it. You couldn't turn a page without a story showing up-- a man with an experience is always at an advantage over a man with a theory. Anyway there is a little promo video at http://www.sas.com/apps/webnet/navigate.jsp?c=BL004.

Posted by Fred Fenimore at April 16, 2005 11:38 AM