IBM announced that they are finally splitting into two companies. I say finally, because nearly two decades ago, and probably a decade before then, the same decision was weighted by insiders and commentators alike. This is best explained in “Who Says Elephants Can't Dance” by the former CEO Louis. V. Gerstner.

1. Title:Elephants can dance, but not fly?
Written by Vadim Pinskiy
IBM announced that they are finally splitting into two companies. I say finally, because nearly
two decades ago, and probably a decade before then, the same decision was weighted by
insiders and commentators alike. This is best explained in “Who Says Elephants Can't Dance”
by the former CEO Louis. V. Gerstner.
The recent decision by IBM represents not only the reversal of the investment of Gerstner and
others into a cohesive vertically integrated company, but the general belief that such companies
can exist in the current startup-focused world. In some way, the world changed more in the
recent decade than in the early 90s. The technology revolution might not have been as
noticeable over the last decade (exception being mobile tech) but the revolution in thinking has
been profound.
Things move fast! Groups move fast and if you are not innovating, you are losing. It is a simple
statement but one that needs to be repeated daily and verbally by every manager. The IBM
breakup should be a front-center reminder of exactly that. I believe that IBM is an amazing
company, was an amazing company and both of the new entities will be amazing, but that
neither has the drive that a ~10 person group or company can have. Internal bureaucracy, even
on the highly efficient scale of Amazon, can move as rapidly as a small group. I write this
statement with confidence but also hope that I am wrong. That Amazon-like success story
(Amazon being both a large company and highly innovative and successful) become the norm
and not the exception for large companies. Unfortunately, at the present moment, large
companies in almost every industry are associated with slow and burdensome bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy to me is represented in one manifestation of job titles - “Mr. No”. Most executives
understand that saying “yes” and taking a risk is a bigger hedge than simply saying “no”. The
conservative route is slower but no that is less likely to ever lead to a termination. This approach
has worked well in the corporate world for over a century and while margins are high, is
probably the advisable way to proceed (from a personal career standpoint) but margins are
never high for ever. Margins are slimming and optimizing in almost every industry. It is not a
matter of if, but when.
But is every small company nimble and successful?
Absolutely not! And why? Well besides the basics needed for a startup, they often forget that as
a startup they cannot look to large companies as an example of what to do, but rather what not
to do. They should also not take on a behemoth directly. Look no further than “...Elephants…”.
Microsoft did not start out as a device or semiconductor company. Microsoft did not start as a
R&D company or a basic science company. IBM still has more noble prizes associated with it
than Microsoft (and many of its competitors, combined!). Microsoft took a niche of the pie that
IBM did not see as significant. And these crumbs is where innovation lies! This is where every
small company and group should focus on. Making crumbs into the pie. As I speak in
metaphors, I look no further than Space X, which took a slice of the market that established
military companies did not see as lucrative and made it into a full-fledged business. There are
other successes as well.

2. The main message is PUSH or be left behind.