At SEMICON® West this summer, I had the pleasure of talking with Ned Barnholt, CEO of the new test and measurement company recently spun off from Hewlett-Packard. At that time, the name of the new company had not been announced. A couple of weeks later, on July 28th, at an event held in San Jose, Agilent Technologies was introduced to the world.
In my meeting with Ned, I wanted to get his views on a few issues pertaining to the new company. There still is one executive position open at Agilent Technologies and that is the office of COO. I asked Ned if he was looking outside the company to fill this position. “We are looking both outside and inside the company, so I am in the process of interviewing external candidates as well as internal candidates. We decided that we should sample the outside market and see the people that are potentially available. Obviously, we want to get the best talent we can for the company,” he said.
“As we form the new company, I think there is a feeling that we need to bring forward the very best of HP, but also we would like to see if there are some things we want to change,” he continued. “A person coming from a different environment may have a different perspective and challenge some of our ideas and really add value to the company. So we are testing that philosophy to see if it really does pan out.”
When the split-up was announced in March, Ned had said the new company will emphasize increased focus, speed, and accountability. I noted that getting products to market faster is difficult to achieve. Current employees will have to change to meet the new demands. I asked how he planned to achieve this goal.
“One of the things I’ve told our employees is everything we do will get factored by six,” he said. “Instead of being 15% of HP as before the split-up, it will now be 100% of our own company. If a product is late or we miss a deadline, it’s going to have a much bigger impact. I think that in itself will bring a greater focus and sense of urgency to the organization.”
“One of the things I’m looking at is….how we can act as role models and put processes in place that emphasize speed and focus,” he noted. “In the last three or four months, I have made lots of decisions really fast. We have accomplished a lot, such as forming a team and launching transition activities.
“And a lot of the employees,” he continued, “think this is great. They like to see this kind of speed and energy. So the role modeling by my staff and me is emphasizing the speed and focus I want to achieve. By doing this, the word will certainly ripple throughout the whole organization.”
Although I find it difficult to refer to the new company as Agilent Technologies, I’m sure it will be readily accepted as a formidable test and measurement company. Based on what I heard, the new direction could change the way we perceived the slow and methodical HP. Just maybe they will live up to their new name as the agile company.
Paul Milo
Editor
Copyright 1999 Nelson Publishing Inc.
September 1999