Rules of the garage

I love when days are just flying by, their beginning and end seamlessly connected. That’s when you feel you actually accomplished something. It reminds me of one of the rules of the garage from HP “Make a contribution every day. If it doesn’t contribute, it doesn’t leave the garage.” It’s a rule I’ve been giving a fair bit of thought as of late, when time is of essence and goals and objectives are not always defined. It’s certainly a good day-by-day measurement to ask oneself, before closing that laptop: Did I really make a contribution?

It brings me back to those HP days. It’s almost with a naive reminiscence that I look back on those years. It was the beginning of my career and I felt I had the world in my hands. In many ways I did. We all did. Because we had the privilege to work in an environment that where all about the people. Not about the product but the people, the ones bringing a service and the ones getting one. In many ways it was ahead of its time, and in others it was sadly left behind a world whose goals were simply short sighted and money driven.
I recall those days around the millennium when Carly Fiorina introduced the Rules of the Garage as part of the new HP Way. Like so many of my colleagues, I adorned my cubicle with the A4 poster. I would often catch a glimpse of one of those rules, letting them tickle my mind, painting the nuances of an already existing vision.

The day after I’d left HP, I regretted it. It was a regret that has been lingering until that of recent. But now, as I finally feel free to pursuit my dreams and visions, I once again turn to the rules of the garage. And so behold of the first commandment: Believe you can change the world. Do I need to say more?