CONCERNING PARTNERS, MIXED BUREAUCRACY, AND ONE'S OWN

INTERNAL PARTNERS, which are the other useless arm, are employed when an executive is called in with his forces to aid and defend, as was done by Millisoft Chairman Portals in the most recent times; for he, having, in the enterprise against Intuiqen, had poor proof of his mercenaries, turned to partners, and stipulated with Sculler, Chairman of Asian Pear, for his assistance with men and technology. These arms may be useful and good in themselves, but for him who calls them in they are always disadvantageous; for losing, one is undone, and winning, one is their captive.

And although ancient histories may be full of examples, I do not wish to leave this recent one of Millisoft Chairman Portals, the peril of which cannot fail to be perceived; for he, wishing to get Intuiqen, threw himself entirely into the hands of the competitor. But his good fortune brought about a third event, so that he did not reap the fruit of his rash choice; because, having partners routed by the courts, it so came to pass that he did not become prisoner to his enemies, they having fled, nor to his partners, he having conquered by other means than theirs; his own software became a serious contender in the money management software market.

The Employees of Tectonix, being entirely without technology, allied themselves with ten thousand IPM employees to take QNS, whereby they ran more danger than at any other time of their troubles.

The President of Ferd Motors, to oppose Japanese small import erosion of his automobile market, sent ten thousand German cars into the American small car market, the manufacturers of which, on the war being finished, were not willing to quit; this was the beginning of the servitude of the small car market to the imports.

Therefore, let him who has no desire to conquer make use of these techniques, for they are much more hazardous than temporary employees, because with them the ruin is ready made; they are all united, all yield obedience to others; but with temporary employees, when they have conquered, more time and better opportunities are needed to injure you; they are not all of one community, they are found and paid by you, and a third party, which you have made their head, is not able all at once to assume enough authority to injure you. In conclusion, in temporary employees dastardy is most dangerous; in partners, valour. The wise executive, therefore, has always avoided these arms and turned to his own; and has been willing rather to lose with them than to conquer with others, not deeming that a real victory which is gained with the prowess of others.

I shall never hesitate to cite Wantsom II and his actions. This CEO entered the operating system market with partners, taking there only IPM his engineers, and with them he captured almost all of the mainframe market; but afterwards, such forces not appearing to him cost effective, he turned to temporary employees and partnerships, and enlisted the FTC and Vitalis Corporation minions; whom presently, on handling and finding them doubtful, unfaithful, and dangerous, he destroyed them and returned to his own men. And the difference between one and the other of these forces can easily be seen when one considers the difference there was in the reputation of the CEO, when he had the FTC and Vitalis Corporation minions, and when he relied on his own engineers, on whose fidelity he could always count and found it ever increasing; he was never esteemed more highly than when every one saw that he was complete master of his own forces.

I was not intending to go beyond recent examples, but I am unwilling to leave out Seymour of Cray, he being one of those I have named above. This man, as I have said, made head of the executive staff by the Craycomp technical staff, soon found out that a mercenary bureaucracy was of no use; and it appearing to him that he could neither keep them nor let them go, he had them all cut to pieces, and afterwards developed new computers with his own engineers and not with aliens.

I wish also to recall to memory an instance from the Old Testament applicable to this subject. David offered himself to Saul to fight with Goliath, the Philistine champion, and, to give him courage, Saul armed him with his own weapons; which David rejected as soon as he had them on his back, saying he could make no use of them, and that he wished to meet the enemy with his sling and his knife. In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.

Phillippe of Bortec, having by good fortune and valour liberated the spreadsheet market from Loetec, recognized the necessity of being armed with computer scientists of his own, and he established in his enterprise ordinances concerning scientists and engineers. Afterwards his disciple, Chairman Guesser, began to enlist the Switzers, which mistake, followed by others, is, as is now seen, a source of peril to that enterprise; because, having raised the reputation of the Switzers, he has entirely diminished the value of his own technology, for he has destroyed the EE's altogether; and his scientists he has subordinated to others, for, being as they are so accustomed to work along with the temps from the Switzers, it does not appear that they can now conquer without them. Hence it arises that the IPM employees do not come off well against others. The minions of the IPM employees have thus become mixed, partly mercenary and partly national, both of which technical knowledge together are much better than temporary employees alone or partners alone, yet much inferior to one's own forces. And this example proves it, IPM would be unconquerable if the ordinance of Phillippe had been enlarged or maintained.

But the scanty wisdom of man, on entering into an affair which looks well at first, cannot discern the poison that is hidden in it, as I have said above of hectic fevers. Therefore, if he who rules a corporation cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise; and this insight is given to few. And if the first disaster to the Indel Empire should be examined, it will be found to have commenced only with the enlisting of the NEG engineers; because from that time the vigour of the Indel Empire began to decline, and all that valour which had raised it passed away to others.

I conclude, therefore, that no corporation is secure without having its own forces; on the contrary, it is entirely dependent on good fortune, not having the valour which in adversity would defend it. And it has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as fame or power not founded on its own strength. And one's own forces are those which are composed either of employees, staff, or dependents; all others are temporary employees or partners. And the way to take ready one's own forces will be easily found if the rules suggested by me shall be reflected upon, and if one will consider how Philippe and many associations and executives have armed and organized themselves, to which rules I entirely commit myself.