Lessons in innovation: Why being a cowboy sometimes pays off

Most of the time, I’m not really one for reminiscing. I much prefer to look to the future and think about what we can do next. One of my favourite quotes is by the writer Rudyard Kipling, who allegedly said: “Never look backwards, or you’ll fall down the stairs”. Sound advice.

That said, I’m not completely against the occasional trip down memory lane, especially if it serves to entertain, conjure up good times, or remind me of something important.

A short documentary called “Silicon Cowboys” recently managed to do all three of these things. The film was released towards the end of last year and it relates – via eyewitness recollections – the history of Compaq Computer, where I spent several happy years during my early career.

For anyone who was around in the early 1980s, you might remember the headlines when the Texan company Compaq (hence the cowboy references) burst onto the scene and took on the mighty IBM, which at the time dominated the tech industry. By introducing the world’s first portable computer, then being first to market with a 32-bit system (the world’s fastest model), Compaq beat “Big Blue” at its own game and made technological history.

The drama of the David and Goliath battle as the two organisations slugged it out really comes across in the film. In today’s terms, it would be like some unheard-of startup announcing it was going to put Google out of business. And you can hear this in the commentary and music score – several clips sound like they could have been cut straight from a corporate espionage blockbuster.

It’s a great story in its own right. But Silicon Cowboys also covers some thought-provoking themes about how to innovate, and how to do business. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about since watching it.

1. If you’re going to innovate, “good enough” isn’t good enough

Compaq’s founders were all doing pretty well, working for a large, successful company called Texas Instruments. But they wanted to do something different, so they quit their jobs and set out to design a personal computer capable of operating IBM desktop PC software, which had been the elusive goal of so many other companies. Going one step further, they saw the opportunity in making the machines portable, so they added a handle to their “suitcase” computer, and in doing so they changed the future of the industry. As it’s pointed out in the film, “you cannot get to the iPhone without the original Compaq Portable”.

2. Time flies, especially in tech

It’s easy to look back now and wonder what Compaq were thinking when they named the “Portable”. Just take a look at the film’s official trailer for some of the original advertising footage. You’ll see an 80s businessman – with obligatory moustache – making his way home with one hefty machine (tellingly, he is sitting down). In another clip, a salesman throws the computer to the ground to prove just how sturdy it is. It weighed 28 lbs! That’s heavier than a car tyre, an average two-year-old child… or eighteen iPads. How many bad backs could the Portable have been responsible for?

Considering this was less than forty years ago, it just goes to show how far computing technology has come in a very short space of time. Which takes me to my next point...

3. Your worst enemy is complacency

Without telling the whole story, it’s well known that IBM initially failed to recognise the threat from Compaq, even as it posted record first-year sales. The rest, to use a well-worn phrase, is history. But there is also a bittersweet element to the Silicon Cowboys tale for Compaq itself. Despite taking an entire industry in a new direction and developing “what the PC should have been” (according to PC News), even they didn’t manage to truly embrace transformation and become the services-led, software-centric organisation they had the potential to be. The company was ultimately sold to Hewlett Packard. While it remains one of HP’s brands today, “Compaq” now appears as an entry on the Centre for Computing History website.

4. Stay in touch with the real world

One of the things I remember most vividly from my time at Compaq is that it really was an amazing place to work. I think this can be traced back to the company’s beginnings and the personalities of its three founders, Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Silicon Cowboys is their habit of recalling the various milestones in terms of what they happened to be eating or drinking at the time. They come across as entirely likeable characters, and crucially, they didn’t forget to enjoy life outside the office. Now this might not be a lesson in innovation as such, but it’s one I intend to keep in mind.

And on that note, I’ll bid you “adieu” for a couple of weeks as I head off on vacation with my family. If you want to take a look at Silicon Cowboys for yourself, you’ll find it on Netflix. Enjoy the summer!

Photo credit: ThaQeLa