Jack is dead

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Jack Welch, aka Neutron Jack, has left the building...

sammyg2 · 03-02-2020, 07:51 AM

I won't shed a tear.

dennis in se pa · dennis in se pa's Garage

I liked his books.

Gretch · 03-02-2020, 11:12 AM

the king is dead.............. another one will be along momentarily.....

flipper35 · flipper35's Garage

The only king I cared much for was King Richard the 43rd.

doug_porsche · 03-02-2020, 11:52 AM

Had a boss who swore by his books.
Same boss only implemented a small minority of what Jacks books said to do.
But man was he a Jack Welch fan.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug_porsche

Had a boss who swore by his books.
Same boss only implemented a small minority of what Jacks books said to do.
But man was he a Jack Welch fan.

Me too. Completely ruthless and liked to use the quote: 'a good CEO comes to work each day prepared to drown puppies.'

I don't know if that was really a Jack Welch quote, but it sure sounds like it.

Gretch · 03-02-2020, 12:53 PM

Six Sigma was bull****.

much like ISO 9000.

both con games designed to make the con man $

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

Chainsaw Jack

King of the next Q earnings report

but only the next Q...

biosurfer1 · 03-02-2020, 01:39 PM

Heard he took GE from revenue of $14 billion the year he took over to over $400 billion at the peak.

That would make any board very, very happy...regardless of how he did it.

Gretch · 03-02-2020, 04:26 PM

/\/\ true that /\/\

Jeff Higgins · 03-02-2020, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

Heard he took GE from revenue of $14 billion the year he took over to over $400 billion at the peak.

That would make any board very, very happy...regardless of how he did it.

They could not have been very happy with the mess he left behind, though. While he did manage to keep all of the balls in the air until he left, they all fell to the floor just as soon as he was out of there. In retrospect, when the veil was lifted, he left a legacy of cutting corners, unwillingness to reinvest in themselves, scandals regarding cheating on government contracts, and many, many other issues. He was all about the short-term, all about impressing wide-eyed board members. There was no sustainability in his business model. And he treated employees of the company like dog schitt - employees that built that company to the one he inherited and ultimately destroyed.

I seldom speak ill of a dead man, but I'll make and exception for this guy. Yes, he "drowned a lot of puppies" in the course of his corrupt career. He ruined the lives of an awful lot of people who had dedicated their lives to his company. He simply didn't care. Stock price and his outlandish salary and bonuses were all that mattered to this man. I hope he rots in hell. They say he died of kidney failure - I hope it was a prolonged, agonizing, excruciating death that saw him pissing bloody razor blades for years. He was the very personification of evil corporate greed. Good riddance.

astrochex · 03-02-2020, 05:03 PM

^I enjoyed reading that. Thanks, Jeff.

pmax · pmax's Garage

Thought there was another Kennedy tragedy

beepbeep · 11:44 PM

I read somewhere that his pupil steered Boeing into position it is in right now?

I found this article interesting:
https://review.chicagobooth.edu/strategy/2019/article/three-strategy-lessons-ge-s-decline

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gretch

Six Sigma was bull****.

much like ISO 9000.

both con games designed to make the con man $

6-Sigma is a very good system, often misused. I was a Black Belt/Master Black belt at 3 different companies and in Wave 2 at GE.

GE's early work on 6 Sigma was good, as it focused on large projects, with high value results. It morphed into a BS program because "more is better". 1 or 2 large projects per organization is good.

But making EVERY employee (at least exempt) run 2 projects a year is BS. Most people just picked some work and then put it in the 6 Sigma framework. So no real help for the company.

CAT did the best implementation, which kept it at a high level and focused on major projects. They also financially audited all projects (multiple on going!) to make sure they actually saved money.

Many of the programs definitely hurt moral. Just before I left Power System, we sold $10B is equipment in one year. This was the "bubble" time. The EPA rules were in Limbo for about 3-4 years and no one wanted to purchase Power Gen equipment in the mid-1990's. ~98, EPA put the rules in place. Huge pent up demand for equipment.

2000 was a "banner year. We sold/shipped $10B in equipment. What was the bonus? We were served lunch, hot dogs, served by the VPs. There was a live Jazz band. And we were given a compressed "post card" T-Shirt. I still have mine, in the compressed format. Makes for good stories.

I was an application engineer, basically working with the commercial sales team and setting up the projects pre-sale, along with performance analysis. From late '98 through the end of Aug '01, I was application engineer to $4B in sales. (196 Gas Turbines).

pavulon · 03-03-2020, 05:42 AM

I though Roush had made another trip to Oshkosh.

rfuerst911sc · 03-03-2020, 09:09 AM

Back in the day my wife and I both worked for GE in their defense division . Jack came along and his " vision " didn't include our division so he sold it to Martin Marrietta . For a while there we didn't know if we were going to keep our jobs , it worked out and we did .

There was a lot of internal grumbling during the transition and none of us were very happy with Jack. My wife and I were both trained in 6S/six sigma and the philosophy has merit . But like any process/mind set it can be abused . It is one piece of the manufacturing tool box .