New IBM book looks back on century of innovation

Tech icon IBM is marking its centennial this year with the release of a new business book, “Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company". The book is written by award-winning journalists Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm, and Jeffrey M. O’Brien. The book chronicles the ways the world has changed over a century in technology, business, and the way progress happens, as well as the role IBM has played in these changes. “In order to understand the implications of IBM’s rich history for our future, we look at our Centennial as an occasion to understand the ideas that shaped this unique enterprise – and the lessons they hold not just for our company, but for the world," said James Velasquez, country general manager of IBM Philippines. The lessons of the book for all businesses are powerful: To survive and succeed for a decade – even more for a century – requires the ability to anticipate change and the capacity to continually transform. Over the course of a century, IBM – grounded in a distinctive culture and set of core values – came into being, grew, thrived, nearly died, transformed itself, and is now charting a new path for its second century of innovation. “The authors uncovered not only a wealth of facts and stories, but a set of powerful ideas that we can use as guide and inspiration to continue reshaping the future for IBM in the Philippines, especially as we start the countdown to our 75th anniversary next year," added Velasquez. IBM chairman, president, and CEO Sam Palmisano contributed the book’s foreword. He notes that the decision to go beyond a traditional commemorative publication – to research and produce a book of ideas – was based on the belief that the company’s history contains lessons about business, technology and progress that go far beyond IBM. Founded in 1911, IBM was shaped by Thomas J. Watson Sr., whose slogan “Think" still guides the company today. Since Watson’s day, IBM’s breakthroughs and inventions have formed the DNA of the information technology industry. At the same time, IBM also pioneered many dimensions of 20th century business, and enabled many essential systems of the modern world. The book is both a look at IBM’s past and an instructive narrative on how one of the world’s largest companies will operate in the 21st century. It is divided into three chapters: In “Pioneering the Science of Information," Kevin Maney tells the story of the evolution of information technology over a century, including how IBM engineers and scientists invented many of the building blocks of modern information technology, such as the memory chip, the mainframe computer, the PC, new fields of mathematics, and the Watson computer that defeated two grand champions on the popular TV quiz show, Jeopardy! This story points to the future of science, and of how we think about thinking itself. In “Reinventing the Modern Corporation," Steve Hamm focuses on how IBM’s business innovations – from progressive workforce policies, to new ideas of societal responsibility, to global engagement, to the deliberate creation of corporate culture – helped shape the modern corporation. In “Making the World Work Better," Jeffrey M. O’Brien looks underneath the work of IBM and other technological and societal innovators, discovering how we actually make progress. The pattern he unearths helps illuminate achievements ranging from putting a man on the moon, creating cleaner air and water and improving the health of populations, to shaping safer, less congested cities. It’s a path that can make a lasting impact on our world, and one that IBM is actively pursuing today. The book will be printed in eight languages and be available in an electronic format as an eBook. — Newsbytes.ph