I’m doing some research for internal development at the moment, collaborating with Skim, one of the interns we have for a few weeks during the summer.  She got some books from her school’s library (Singapore Management University Library) for us to peruse in our efforts to look into learning styles and methods, profiling tools, personal development, and organizational excellence, among other things.  I’ve got a nice stack of books to read: Lean Six Sigma for Service, FedEx Delivers, Headless Chickens, Laidback Bears, and The HP Way.

I started with the most intriguing one about chickens and bears, but didn’t see the immediate relevance in the research I was looking for.  Of course, it fits into the whole personal development section, but the time needed to go through that book didn’t seem to justify looking at it first, so I reprioritized and decided to go with learning more about the origins and philosophies of HP.  It’s the smallest book out of the bunch, so I figured at least it’d be fastest to power through.

In reading it, I’m still not sure I’ve gotten much out of it and I’ve only got another 50 pages to go.  There’s been a lot of random background stories and detailing of this and that technology that they or their acquaintances pioneered, but hardly much mention of the HP way other than some quick references to their rewarding pay scheme, dedication to quality and innovation, and decentralized structure.  Perhaps it’s because what they were doing at the time was completely revolutionary, but now I find that these strategies are more commonplace and certainly nothing too exciting.  I was hoping for a better collection of sage advice that I could soak up, but instead I find certain ideas reinforced, but not much else.

One thing that really struck me for their start and development was all the help they got along the way, especially from a well-connected and very well-meaning professor of theirs when they met at Stanford, a Fred Terman who time and time again was their guardian angel.  This, coupled with a lot of their other connections that helped them be a leader in their field, stood out to me.  Being the self-dependent type that I am, I am conscious of the importance of mentors, but not very good in seeking them out or using their knowledge and experience to help me grow.  So here again I am reminded of how I am so blessed to have Starfish and Zen here to guide me now, but concerns of how I will maintain the relationship worry me.  I’ve reached out to others who are doing things that I’d aspire to achieve one day, but not yet followed through with meeting up to get advice.

All in all it’s making me consider what my philosophy and approach would be in starting my own business.  I’ve outlined some things here and there but never really solidified anything.  Someday I’d like to have a clear set of visions, missions, and goals to strive for.  I’ll spend some time looking at the success stories including HP, FedEx, Google, and Starbucks.  From there, I can take what I like and modify what I don’t to fit my desires and purposes.  For now, I’m still finding my way.  After all, I still don’t know for sure what type of business I might want!