12 Responses to “What Do You Think About the Book?”

1. 1 Alex Moundalexis Jun 5th, 2007 at 8:10 pm

   I finished the book a week ago and was pleased. The description of the type of person that will do well at SAIC versus those who wouldn’t fit in the company’s culture is dead on, even after the IPO. Even as an employee, I think it offered a unique glimpse at the company’s beginnings and its growth into what stands today. As a Rizzi Ops employee it was especially enlightening to see some of Steve’s commentary in print.

   I noticed what I think were a few typos. Is there a particular address to send corrections?

2. 2 Chris Horn Jun 6th, 2007 at 11:33 am

   1990 Graduate of the U. of Michigan, and founder of the Victors Group (co-founded by Gerald Ford.). I’dlike to host you in a book signing in HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA. It is my hometown, and SAIC has a major foothold here, as does US Army, NASA, Lockheed, Northrop, Bae Sys and Raytheon…

   I’ve been mentored by Roy Nichols (UM, Nichols Research) and would surely get him on board, if you would agree to come,speak and sign a few books at SAIC or at Barnes and Noble.

   chrishorn@gmail.com

3. 3 Christina Lomasney Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:03 pm

   Dear Dr. Beyster:

   Your book is a great treasure and inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs! And just the right length!! I have ready many books on the subject and found this one to provide unique insight into how to bring together a group of talented people to address big problems and build a company at the same time. Hiring talent has always been my prime objective, but I’ve struggled to find a balance between dictating a focused corporate mission, which often misses the unique dimensions of my team, and the directionless agenda that can otherwise result from entirely democratic management. The insight that you shared on financial controls, proposal and business development tools and specific forums that SAIC developed for employee participation, helped me to understand better how a company can align on bases other than dictated subject matter to leverage the greatness of its intellectual capital. It is exactly the insight that my team and I have been looking for!!

   I am curious to know your perspective on exporting this model to other countries. You mentioned the isolated success in Russia with Saratov. But, what about US companies that are trying to build teams abroad in countries like Russia and China, where the culture of employee-ownership doesn’t exist yet and the value isn’t as readily understood by the workforce? Do you think an international model of an U.S.-based, employee-owned company in China (i.e. hiring Chinese employee-owners) could work? With the statistics that are circulating on the lack of enrollment in science/engineering on the part of US university students, do you think there’s a future for our scientific innovation without such a model?

   I look forward to your insight!

   With higest regards,
   Christina

4. 4 Susan Pernia Jul 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 pm

   Dr. Beyster,

   I had the opportunity to read your book in one sitting on the beach during my son’s spring vacation. I have been thinking about it ever since. I had both analytical and emotional reactions, the latter because I have been with the company for almost 20 years now and it has been such a significant part of my life. I love storytelling, and as I read I could hear you talking the words written. That said, here are my main thoughts:

   1. The book in its entirety re-validated the significance and meaning of my employee-owner experience. Since your departure, I felt that our corporate commitment to EO immediately begin to fade, and now i no longer think of us as being employee-owned. For me, this is a great loss and makes me realize how much i took our EO culture for granted during your tenure. At present it seems as if our legacy culture is almost extinct, for which i feel a tremendous loss, as if experiencing the death of a highly successful organizational which has succumbed to an unlikely leadership malady. Reading your book brought back my memories and my recognition of how much we accomplished as a company and how much I learned and evolved by being a part of our EO-based SAIC.

   2. The book provided me with an historical context of how I, and thousands like me, transformed from employee owners on paper/on the sidelines to employee owners in practice/in the engine of SAIC. For my first few years I saw employee-ownership as a conceptual business framework. Although I was actually implementing your SAIC vision on a daily basis, it took me a while to internalize it. After that I became an EO convert and an evangelist in my mind and soul. I was hired by Peck to grow an IT business at the Johnson Space Center. From 1988 to 1994, I grew our SAIC presence there (for the Straker/Peck org) from myself to 130 people, which promoted me from a PM to a Division Manager, to an Operations Manager responsible for 2 commercial divisions and 3 NASA divisions. This while Larry grew to an operation, group and sector. It was almost explosive. I was able to do my part because corporate did not get in the way of my belief in my customer, their belief in me, and my interest in the subject matter of integrating IT with business process engineering. Our practic of allowing and requiring responsibility for profit to be at the division manager level enabled me to be a 90% billable Program Manager while running the Operation at a 9% PBT (until Neil took his contract Co 6 and NASA made all SAIC contracts move to that cost structure).

   3. For me initially, the most striking aspect of the SAIC mission, which you so clearly and consistently articulated, was to participate in programs of “national importance”. This was not spin, it was real. I was and am so respectful of my personal/our corporate involvement in so many incredible initiatives, such as NASA Space Station, EPA MOSES, and ChemDemil — all of which I had the benefit of participating in with many bright and committed people.

   4. Botttoms up growth and internal competition in developing new work and maintaining existing business were key elements to my organization’s success. I have never tolerated being micro-managed, so having the freedom to grow whatever elements I wanted to, within the JSC IT business and the Houston commercial IT services arena, was all the trigger I personally needed to explore new customers, bid my preferred RFPs, write winning proposals, hire SME’s, and ensure winning all my recompetes. Our focus on growth was only enhanced by the parallel internal competition and partnership with Neil Hutchinson’s organization. At one point there was discussion of my operation moving from Larry’s to Neil’s group within the Straker sector. Although I highly admired Neil and we had worked together on the Space Station Ops contract under Rockwell, I felt my organization was much more of an IT organization that happened to be working for NASA, rather than a NASA group with IT expertise. So I explained this to Ed, Larry, and Neil and was able to stay with Larry, which i thought was best for the company during this period of establishing a permanent IT foothold at JSC, which still continues today.

   5. Rewarding employees according to their contribution was another key factor for me remaining with SAIC for so long. Under your leadership, I experienced that philosophy being effectively implemented. I felt that i contributed significantly to the growth of our company during the 90′s and that I was rewarded accordingly — not too much, not too little. I can remember Larry Peck telling me, when I received my first options for winning the JSC ISC contract, that the vesting options might seem only like pieces of paper now, but they would help later in putting my kids through college. These resources became critical in my personal life, since I had to rely on liquidating my vesting stock and options in order to cover sky-high legal expenses associated with years of expensive child custody battles. Your corporate practice of rewarding contributors enabled me to financially afford excellent lawyers resulting in a more stable life for my children. For this I will be eternally grateful for this key element of your implementation of employee ownership.

   5. At the end of the book you state that if someone is not aligned with the direction and priorities of management, then they are working for the wrong organization. I needed to hear that, since I have felt like I am no longer in the “right” organization. With three children grown and out of the house, and the last one graduating next year, I will have the opportunity to re-think where I want to work, contribute, and be recognized appropriately for the next and last phase of my career. These parting words are so important to hear, and more important to be acted on, for those of us who find the most importance in doing interesting work with smart people in a nurturing environment that sustains entreprenerism of the enterprise and professional evolution of its employees.

   I can’t thank you enough for your leadership in pathfinding SAIC to be a brilliant example of what the best and the brightest can attain when strategically guided and tactically empowered. I could write a book about your book. I have often thought of writing about my SAIC life as a project manager, business developer, division manager, consultant, mentor, and instructor. But this may have to wait til all my kids are out of college.

   Congratulations on documenting what so many SAIC employee-owners have experienced, so that our place in the company’s extraordinary history will be forever expressed through your voice.

5. 5 Dr. Beyster Jul 13th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

   Alex: I am glad you read the book and are pleased with it. I would like you to send your observations on the book to us at inquiry@fed.org since the publisher will be doing further printings in the future. — Bob

   Chris: We received your blog entry, and I will consider coming to Huntsville, but not until it is cooler. By the way, we are also having a heat wave in San Diego, so it seems there’s no way to escape the heat this summer. Go Blue! — Bob

   Christina: Thank you for your very comprehensive blog entry — it gave me a lot of food for thought. We looked you up on the Web and found that you are a key figure at Isotron, a company that specializes in NBC decontamination technology, which is something this country needs more of unfortunately. You must be a dedicated person, and I suspect you have shared the wealth with those who helped you, as we did. I think that the model we used for SAIC would be hard to export since most other countries have highly regulated markets that are not free (although they say that they are). Even in the U.S., if we were to start again, I think that we wouldn’t be able to use the same model—we would have to modify it as we describe in the book. Those days are over. But I believe if you share the wealth, the company will build itself. You need some initial contacts who know you well, and who are willing to fund you. I’m not familiar enough with doing business in China to respond to your question in detail. But I think that if I were to do it, I would have an American financial partner who knows the ropes in China help me. — Bob

6. 6 Bill Hillegeist Jul 13th, 2007 at 8:16 pm

   I was thrilled to read Dr B’s book about the history and uniqueness of SAIC. I joined the company in late 1983 and was heavily involved in the Heebner Group as the Senior Financial Controller and Contracts Manager supporting the RSNF C3 contract for the Royal Saudi Navy (along with other contracts). Life was surely different back then with no formal project management tools, a financial management system that was not up to the task in supporting this major systems integration contract. Dr B usually attended the management review board for the contract. I believe the RSNF contract was one of the more profitable in the company’s history.

   I too am a strong believer in employee ownership, not only as a source of financial rewards, but also as a motivating factor in making all of us responsible for the company’s success.

   I want to be honest, however, that I am very disappointed that Dr Beyster did not acknowlege the significant contributions so so many who managed and directed the administrative part of the company. Yes, Dr. B takes great pride in pointing out the successes of the management of the company by technical people to whom he attributes its success. But no mention of Dennis Heipt, Bill Roper, Steve Ayers, Doug Scott, Bob Berg, Kathie Hedges, Bernie Theule, Steve Rabb and the thousands of contracts, legal, procurement, financial project control and financial staff who made mighty contributions to the company?

   I realize that Dr B comes from a techical background and did a fantastic job of hiring and motivating great leadership in the company. However, I also believe that he sees the administrative side of the company as a necessary afterthought.

   I hope future editions will recognize the major contributions of those who were not part of the techincal management of the company

7. 7 Dr. Beyster Jul 24th, 2007 at 8:51 pm

   Susan: Thank you for your comments and for taking the time to prepare such a detailed record of your experiences at SAIC. Others have more informally said the same thing, that they felt SAIC treated them more than fairly and thanked the company profusely for taking those actions. You confirmed the philosophy of the company again, which was to reward employees, board members, and consultants based on performance. In addition, you confirmed the comments of retirees and others who left the company that our cash and stock awards were more than adequate and sufficient for them to take time to find interesting projects of importance after leaving the company. SAIC tried to provide and usually succeeded in providing financial independence to most of those who performed well. And you among others made that all possible. It’s I who need to thank you. My contributions were dictated by what my conscience told me was right, and for that I’m truly happy. Stay in touch, and we will try to make sure further printings of the book include some reference to testimonials like you have given. –- Bob

   Bill: We received your contribution to the blog, and it’s true that we inadvertently overlooked the major contributions made to SAIC by the corporate and the line administration. This contribution was truly major, and those who contributed so much should be acknowledged. The second printing of the book is in the planning stage, and we will try to work your comments in. I hope it’s not too late. — Bob

8. 8 Christina Lomasney Jul 26th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

   Dear Dr. Beyster:

   Thank you very much for your reply! And, thank you for your encouraging words about our business focus. I am a firm believer in the philosophy of ownership that you advocate in your book. Isotron does indeed operate as a team of entrepreneurs, all of whom are stakeholders in the venture. In fact, late last year, one of my team members and I started a spin-out technology company together (www.modumetal.com). I think that it is the fact that we tangibly encourage this entrepreneurial spirit, and support it even beyond our organizational boundaries, that has motivated some exceptional individuals to join and stay with the organization even through very difficult times.

   I am curious about this comment: “Even in the U.S., if we were to start again, I think that we wouldn’t be able to use the same model—we would have to modify it as we describe in the book”. I do recall your discussion of the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on the internal trading model – is this the modification to the model that you are referring to?

   Specific to my question about China, you suggested a qualified financial partner. Have you experience with a financial partner at SAIC? What would you look for in such a partner?

   I thank you in advance for indulging my questions. It is a great help to share in your insight as we embark on this effort.

   With highest regards,
   Christina

9. 9 Dr. Beyster Aug 7th, 2007 at 8:48 am

   Christina: Regarding your message, you mentioned the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on starting a company in the United States. Things have improved a little. The Congress, SEC, and other agencies have been deluged by these concerns and have indeed made modifications liberalizing the Sarbanes-Oxley laws. There is, however, no substitute for good legal counsel to help guide you in forming a U.S. company. If you are in San Diego, I can help you with a referral to a legal representative from Sheppard Mullin here in town. Elsewhere, I cannot give you any advice. On China, we’re just getting our feet wet with a small investment. Contact us to discuss if you’d like. I hope this is helpful to you — let us know what you decide to do. – Bob

10. 10 Diane S Graham Aug 27th, 2007 at 12:45 pm

    Dear Dr. Beyster;

    Reading your book has been a nostalgic experience for me. I found the book very informative about company events and projects that I was aware of, but had no details. To hear the stories straight from the CEO was particularly enlightening.

    I started SAIC in Huntsville in 1972 as a Mathematician hired by Ed Straker to support his nuclear engineering business. It was an exciting time then when the company was so young. Everything was new and we were all enthusiastic about our work, our customers and our team.

    I enjoyed reading about many people that I remember working for in various efforts. I worked for Bill Layson for awhile as a programmer modeling battlefield target laydowns, blast effects and associated terrain relief. I moved to California in 1979 and joined John Warner’s organization and got involved in system configuration for the Air Logistics Centers. Then we won NTC and I supported that effort. TRIMIS and eventually CHCS came along and I had the opportunity to build and manage the development center and network that supported the program worldwide. This was a great boost to my career and helped me achieve the office of Assistant Vice President.

    From there I went on into commercial and then State and Local business and was able to build my own Division with customers from San Diego County, the state of California and the state of Montana. During this time I achieved the office of Vice President.

    All of this was possible for me because of your philosophy of entrepreneurship and providing the latitude for any of us to pursue and build a dream. I want to thank you for that. It has been a wild, enriching ride and I’ve enjoyed it very much. I never took a break in service even while building a family. I was always afraid I would miss something.

    Now, as I wind down in my career, I am pleased with my portfolio built by being an SAIC employee. What a good choice I made 35 years ago in coming to work for SAI instead of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (which was my other offer).

    Please know that I really appreciate what you did for all of us by sharing the wealth and the dream.

    Warm Regards,

    Diane

11. 11 Dr. Beyster Sep 10th, 2007 at 11:37 pm

    Diane: Thank you for your generous remarks about what SAIC generally and I in particular were able to accomplish for you. I’ve heard the same comment over and over again from other employees and ex-employees. It makes me feel that we did accomplish something unique in the business world with SAIC. As much as we try in the Foundation for Enterprise Development and in the Beyster Institute — and as much as others around the country try — employee ownership is still a hard sell, although equity participation is present in many companies. What’s harder is building a company that is employee owned, which means that the majority of the board members and shareholders are great advocates of the employee-owned approach to building a company. We all know that it works when the equity is shared based on contribution. SAIC is not the only place that employee ownership has worked. — Bob

12. 12 keith nightingale May 21st, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Dr B

    Just another note to tell you how much my family and I appreciate who you are what you built. We are all greateful-not so much for the tangible benefits, but much more for the human aspects. The quality of people you brought into SAIC and the nurturing you did is without parallel.

    I have been with several businesses-both large and small-and none hold a candle to what you created-more importantly-how you created it.

    It takes a unique individual to know that “none of us are as smart as all of us.” Even more to actually believe and practice it.

    Keith