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ROWE Will Never Work

Aug 15, 2011 » by Jody

“Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances.”  — Dr. Lee DeForest, “Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television.”

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”  — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” — The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” –Bill Gates, 1981

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,” –Western Union internal memo, 1876.

“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” — A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service.  (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”  — Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”  — Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil, 1859.

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”  — Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

“I don’t know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn’t be a feasible business by itself.” – -the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”  — Ken Olson, president, chairman, founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977.

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  • http://twitter.com/ThePeopleGroup The People Group

    Good one.  Who will provide the anti-ROWE that will be famous after the entire workplace is ROWE?

    • Anonymous

      Excellent question…any ideas? Who is preparing to be the anti-ROWE?

  • Anonymous

    Several of these quotes are not accurate.
    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9101699/The_640K_quote_won_t_go_away_but_did_Gates_really_say_it_But in any case, this is not an argument for why ROWE will succeed. Rather, it is merely a demonstration that many successful innovations were dismissed. Being derided is not a sure sign of success.

    • Anonymous

      @robbyslaughter – you’re absolutely right. This is by no means an argument for why ROWE will succeed. ROWE successes stand on their own and pave the way for the future.

      We actually started using a few of these quotes when leaders at some client organizations stated “Saying ROWE will never work is like stating [insert one of the quotes].” To leaders in organizations that have gone ROWE, it just seems so absurd to make that statement because “ROWE will never work” means “Focusing on results will never work”.

  • C. A. Hurst

    Hi Jody,

    This is great. Thank you! Funny, funny, funny. :-)

    • Anonymous

      @C.A. – glad you got a kick out of this. :)

  • http://twitter.com/awendt André Wendt

    Given the fact that the Bill Gates himself denied the 640K statement in http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/gatesivu.htm, can we actually trust the other quotes?

    Sources anyone?

    • http://www.gorowe.com Cali Ressler

      @Andre – many leaders deny saying “ROWE will never work” once they are in the environment, too :)

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  • Jan Vafa

    Love the quotes!  However, I do have a question…  Aren’t there some areas or times when the ‘face to face’ is needed – how does ROWE handle that?

    • http://www.gorowe.com Cali Ressler

      @Jan – great question! For some results to be achieved in some jobs, face to face is needed. In a ROWE, *when* the face to face happens is not dictated by a supervisor/manager. The results, and how they will be measured, are agreed upon – and then it’s up to employees to make decisions about how they’ll get there.

      ROWE has been implemented in many settings that are traditionally very face to face oriented: police departments, childcare centers, schools, nursing homes, etc. It’s not about telling employees in these settings that they need to have face to face contact with their clients, customers, students, or residents – it’s about getting very clear about the results and letting adults use their common sense. If results aren’t met, that is addressed as a performance issue…and if an employee can’t step up to the plate and deliver, they won’t have a job at the organization anymore.