Friday, March 30, 2007
Thoughts on SAP today
Thoughts on SAP today: "Several things that I take away from today’s meeting.
1. Hasso is a statesman. He didn’t underplay Shai’s impact. But what he did was to rally the whole company behind the new board. It was fantastic to watch. I’m hesitant to use this analogy sitting in Germany, but there was something distinctly Churchillian about him today. I went into the meeting concerned and came out fired up. The lines ” We have a CEO, we have Henning.” and ”I still know about software” raised the rafters with cheers, whistles and footstomps.
2. Another quote that stuck with me from Hasso went something like “Shai was a big tree in the forest , but like any big tree he cast a big shadow. It is now time for people in that shadow to grow and show what they can do.”
3. Henning and the board have reacted quickly and decisively to restructure the organisation. The new executive board and council model is simpler and more streamlined, and Henning has cleverly used Shai’s departure to clean up some messy organisational structures. Marketing is now consolidated under Marty Homlish, reporting to Leo. All partnering is under Zia. Product development reporting lines are simpler too. The field is streamlined with two main regions, one under Bill McDermott, the other under Ernie Gunst. (Jeff and Josh cover this in their posts, and it is all in the press release)"
1. Hasso is a statesman. He didn’t underplay Shai’s impact. But what he did was to rally the whole company behind the new board. It was fantastic to watch. I’m hesitant to use this analogy sitting in Germany, but there was something distinctly Churchillian about him today. I went into the meeting concerned and came out fired up. The lines ” We have a CEO, we have Henning.” and ”I still know about software” raised the rafters with cheers, whistles and footstomps.
2. Another quote that stuck with me from Hasso went something like “Shai was a big tree in the forest , but like any big tree he cast a big shadow. It is now time for people in that shadow to grow and show what they can do.”
3. Henning and the board have reacted quickly and decisively to restructure the organisation. The new executive board and council model is simpler and more streamlined, and Henning has cleverly used Shai’s departure to clean up some messy organisational structures. Marketing is now consolidated under Marty Homlish, reporting to Leo. All partnering is under Zia. Product development reporting lines are simpler too. The field is streamlined with two main regions, one under Bill McDermott, the other under Ernie Gunst. (Jeff and Josh cover this in their posts, and it is all in the press release)"
