I Convinced HP's Board to Buy Palm for $1.2B. I Watched Them Kill It in 49 Days
a year ago
- #leadership
- #technology
- #innovation
- The author, as HP's CTO, convinced the board to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion, believing in WebOS's potential for mobile computing.
- Post-acquisition, leadership changes (Mark Hurd's resignation and Leo Apotheker's appointment) led to a strategic shift away from hardware, including WebOS.
- The author's medical emergency and recovery coincided with critical decisions, leaving him unable to advocate for WebOS during its crucial early days.
- HP launched the TouchPad with WebOS but quickly discontinued it after 49 days due to poor sales, a decision made without consulting the Palm team.
- The author faced blame from colleagues for not being present to provide 'adult supervision' during the WebOS dismantling.
- Systematic thinking errors, including solving the wrong problem and identity-driven decisions, led to the failure of WebOS at HP.
- The author developed the DECIDE framework to prevent similar innovation decision disasters in the future.
- Despite the WebOS failure, the author maintains faith in HP's potential under current leadership.
- The story highlights the importance of systematic decision-making frameworks over intelligence and good intentions in innovation contexts.