The Open Organization
"This is a story of reinvention. Jim Whitehurst, celebrated president and CEO of one of the world's most revolutionary software companies, tells first-hand his journey from traditional manager (Delta Air Lines, Boston Consulting Group) and "chief" problem solver to CEO of one of the most open organizational environments he'd ever encountered. This challenging transition, and what Whitehurst learned in the interim, has paved the way for a new way of managing-one this modern leader sees as the only way companies will successfully function in the future. Whitehurst says beyond embracing the technology that has so far disrupted entire industries, companies must now adapt their management and organizational design to better fit the Information Age. His mantra? "Adapt or die." Indeed, the successful company Whitehurst leads-the open source giant Red Hat-has become the organizational poster child for how to reboot, redesign, and reinvent an organization for a decentralized, digital age.^ Based on open source principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration, "open management" challenges conventional business ideas about what companies are, how they run, and how they make money. This book provides the blueprint for putting it into practice in your own firm.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
7mentions
7people
2017–2023years
71% recommend29% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I agree with all of what you said but having known Jim Whitehurst, he’s a guy who’s die hard about culture. Fixing the anxiety from within and giving people the space is what he’s known for. Whether he makes the right strategic decisions is up to him but if you have read anything from him you’ll know he seeks to improve excellence within to then champion externally. He did this with Red Hat before IBM. His book, The Open Organization is still relevant.
- I like Whitehurst and have had the chance to meet him a few times. If you want to understand his ethos check out "The Open Organization". It details his transition from Delta to Red Hat and the transformation of his leadership style being around a lot of smart engineers and team players ready to constructively challenge each other. Good read for anyone interested in building inclusive company culture in tech.
Honestly, I thought IBM would be feel less rudderless with him at the helm. I wanted IBM to become more 'red' and not RH to become more 'big blue'- but it appears this isn't the case after all... seems like a short tenure.
Anyone know more about the new leadership?
- I would recommend reading the Open Organization by Jim Whitehurst to get example of how process affects employee motivation.
- For Red Hat, you can check out "The Open Organization" which details the culture that Red Hat espouses:
https://www.redhat.com/en/explore/the-open-organization-book
- Never use the word "manager" again. Instead, prefer "leader". If you are somewhere where the team needs to be managed then there are better jobs out there.
Buy and read Jim Whitehurst book The Open Organization before your interview and actualize the information in that book. Recall times you put into practice the things that are mentioned in the book (good and bad).
- James M. Whitehurst is new CEO, previously at IBM, but originally CEO of Red Hat. He joined IBM after they acquired it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Whitehurst
He wrote a book about open source software while running Red Hat, The Open Organization: https://www.redhat.com/en/explore/the-open-organization-book
He is an MBA, but he got his undergraduate degree in CS from Rice.
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