IBM needs to bring in "the Bobs" from Office Space to ask everyone in the sales organization this question: : "so uh, what exactly do ya do here?"
9 replies (most recent on top)
So true...so many countless examples of banana republic style mgmt asking if we got the memo about TPS reports or other completely useless topics that don't have squat to do with SELLING. Hello? Peter should get that promotion not the banana republic leadership pals.
-1pik
So true. We spend more time filling in dashboards for the reporting clowns so that everything looks “green” rather than spending time working on the actual product.
The problem is the executive management team. Sales, technical, everyone is beholden to the strategy of buying back stock rather than investing in the company. Is someone really worth millions to buy back stock? I can do that for a few dollars on my brokerage account.
I went through the process a year ago. While I missed the idea of working for a while, and I missed some of the people, I can honestly say I did not miss IBM. After 20+ years, that was a big surprise. There are lots of other opportunities out there, so look forward, not backward, as there is nothing that any one person can change to right the ship. If Ginny left tomorrow, the rest of the organizational largess will still steer it into the iceberg in the distance.
You nailed it. Those constant checklists we are sent to fill out every 6 months it seems.
Everyone knows a massive cleansing of the bloat is a must.
The quota-carrying sales org is (mostly) not the problem -- although anybody in an "overlay" team and about half of sales management would not be missed.
The problem is the "cross-functional" and "cross-portfolio" wastes of space in every org structure across IBM who do nothing but produce templates and checklists and status reports for the rest of us to fill out. And the middle managers who produce meaningless aggregates of lower tiers to present to higher tiers and run status meetings and operations meetings and all the other c-ap that makes no contribution to either product quality or customer satisfaction.
IBM is getting out of the software business.
Cloud Chapter 2.0 Systems Integration / Development Shop.
All GBS & GTS all the time from this point forward.
Software at IBM is TOAST.
We try to sell the outdated, uncompetitive products development produces in between dealing with crit sits caused by product bugs. Sales is the whipping boy for lousy offerings.
Ask all the internal IBM BS teams
"so uh, what exactly do ya do here?"
Reply: "dead air"
"so uh, why are you still employed here?"
Reply: "my husband is a manager"