…for stealing the Hon Aero command media for corporate self-destruction, and successfully using it at Blue Origin!
arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/former-blue-origin-employees-decry-safety-and-sexist-culture-at-the-company
19 replies (most recent on top)
"A great mentor to me" - well then you should:
1) be a micromanager
2) treat subordinates poorly
3) seem to take pleasure in humiliating low-level engineers who come to your lair to give presentations
4) have a terrible barely-there flat top (looks like he finally gave up)
"his contributions should be defended" - such as? nothing comes to mind, please share
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/revealed-the-secret-notes-of-blue-origin-leaders-trying-to-catch-spacex/
“He [Bezos] could spend this extra time listening to the concerns and ideas of his employees, rather than filtering their input through Smith.”
I worked with Bob, so I don’t need to stfu.
He was on deck when Aero went mental and went along with it. Sorry, but that’s not leadership. What he’s doing at BO reflects the worst of Hon management philosophy, so evidently he wasn’t morally bothered either.
BS is clearly a manager with little imagination. The whole "back to the office" movement was infused in him by Dave&Doofus, which is diametrically opposed to high-tech ways. It's new world, and the 19th Century, Industrial Age mindset leaders just can't understand how they'll ever feel na--d power in a "virtual workplace."
By HON standards BS did a pretty stellar job at BO, driving attrition up well over 10%/yr., now that's a bonus-maker!
Leaders have a different agenda these days. Its not about making good products and customer satisfaction anymore. Its about getting out of manufacturing, raising cash and working on DA's software transformation story. I think Wall St. runs Honeywell now; they don't like employees.
Sorry but I agree with the minority being flamed. Bob was a great mentor to me and his contributions are worth defending. If you didn’t work with him … stfu.
What a freakin joke. BS was a shill at HW and all these clowns that are saying oh.... Bob was so great, we all loved him. What a bunch of cr_p. Not rue. The only ones who loved him were boot lickers.
Where have I heard this before???
Additionally, as part of Smith’s rush to return employees to the office, people familiar with the matter said the CEO in May began a Covid vaccination disclosure program, through “green dots” on company badges.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/01/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-talent-exodus-ceo-pushed-return-to-office.html
BS was awful, fit right in with the a-ho-e leadership culture, it was such a letdown to see lower level VPs kissing his bu-t, no loss when he left
Lots of troll extolling BS. Whatever his personality, his leadership was bunk. He was responsible for the mandate "thoug shall work at least 48 hours each week or your review will be sh1t!". Good riddance to bad management.
@umh: The comment "His strategy for BO was one stolen from Honeywell".
I kind of believe Honeywell's strategy actually originated from Bossidy & Cote, both being previous G.E. executives under Jack Welch. Just my opinion.
Bob was/is good engineer and was incredibly good to work for. I did see some dark sides but the situations and the pressure would drive any of us to make decisions on the spot that might or might not work out. I was surprised that he became CEO having no financial background and the Amazon culture grind. All the best to him, certainly not the worst leader HON had.
I understand why Bob went to BO. He was always a rocket man. This was assuredly his dream job. His strategy for BO was one stolen from Honeywell. Bid high so you have room to negotiate. Meanwhile Musk doesn’t play that game and bid to win. Bluff called. Cards out and Bob was caught overcharging. I see Honeywell system engineers and program managers playing the same old hand in bids today. He played and lost. Time to move. His only value to BO now is as a scape goat to take pressure of Bezos.. who was clearly calling the shots.
@hie- Agreed. Bob is hands down smartest person I ever met, and I worked in the industry for 40 years. That said, leaders are put in place to meet the goals they are provided. If they do not meet those goals they are gone. Bob, at Honeywell, always tried to thread the needle of supporting engineering while achieving what his bosses demanded. Tough duty sometimes…
I'm happy for BO now they got BS. And BS they got!
Bob was a much better CTO than CEO.
He is undeniably brilliant and always showed the characteristic ability to cut through the technical noise to the real issues. Anyone who worked with him directly respects him.
I suspect that Bezos drives more culture than Smith does.
Don’t confuse “nice to your face” for good leadership. He could turn the charm on and play to his boyish grin. That’s learned skills via Hon funded professional executive training (Really, that’s a thing. It’s called Charm School by the execs).
Sit with the guy on the plane and talk technology development. He’s got a PhD’s view of product development twisted by MBA think that isn’t aligned with reality in the slightest.
@xpm+1d6Ohk0F
Bwahaha, great leader, yeah right! Look at what’s happening at BO, what’s happened under BS, and tell me what the common denominator is…
BS lost the bid for the top job at Aero, his faction was expelled, and now they’re out there crushing other companies with their “leadership”.
This is very surprising. I worked for Bob when he was the Aero CTO. Just as nice as the day is long. Very gracious. Always concerned about the well being of the entire engineering population. Was viewed as a great leader.