Father, Son, and Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond

This book tells one of the most fascinating, indeed rivetting, stories that I have ever read. It is about the building of one of the great American businesses of the 20C, but also much much more: it is about the conflict of an extraordinarily hard-driving father and his talented though psychologically burdened and rebellious son. From the beginning, they were at eachothers' throats and never relented in their conflict, even when it became evident that the son's genius surpassed that of his father to build an empire that can only be compared to the accomplishments of the first two Caesars, Julius and Augustus. The book also covers a good deal of American business history from the great depression to the beginning of the stagnation of the 1970s and early 1980s. Thus, it can be read on numerous levels. There are so many insights in it that it will bear re-reading for a long time to come. Watson Jr. was acutely aware of the cost of success and was brutally honest about his own failings as a manager and family man. I find myself remembering scenes in that book, running them in my mind as examples from which to learn. Warmly recommended.

I just finished this book from cover to cover. With Tom Watson Jr's candid narration of his life, I found this book very relevant to myself who is nearly forty and is going through a late mid-life re-orientation. The items that I found particularly useful in this book are: life lessons, Tom Watson Jr's rationale behind some of this decisions and hindsight on what could have been done better.

Almost everyone in the U.S. and many parts of the world recognize the three letters "IBM." Where did it start? How did it become so big and encompassing in our lives? This is an autobiography of Tom Watson Jr., former President of IBM and son of the company's founder Tomas Watson Sr. Auto-biographies usually paint more of the bright side than the dark side. But he gave a lot his personal perceptions, fears, thoughts, and family relationships in this book, and for that respect is deserved. He never came off as condescending considering the wealth and power he attained. He was a poor student, who later became his own man serving in WWII. He did look death in the face on a few occasions. He proved from his own actions to became a good-thinking businessman while ascending to the helm at IBM, which was no easy task. He appears to understand human psychology well also. He also knew whent to get out of the strainfull rat race and enjoy his interests outside of the company.He came across as a humanist who valued his employees in a personal way uncommon in corporate America. As the company grew so quickly and became so large, there were obvious "big company" problems and issues to address. And he did his best to tackle them. The book provided a lot of interesting historical background of his father, the origins of IBM and it's growth. a lot of information about what was going on in American business and technology in the 1950s and 60s is noted as well. Good auto-biography.

What is the difference between a widely successful company and a mediocre one? What was the difference between IBM and, say, the makers of UNIVAC? The difference was not in the technology or in being at the right place at the right time. The difference was IBM's leadership and in particular Thomas J. Watson Jr's leadership. There are exceedingly few examples in the history of business when a very successful company risks everything to climb to an even higher level. That is what IBM did with project 360 and it is possible that no other person except Watson Jr. was in a position to implement such a daring undertaking. He had courage, vision, and, yes, credibility. IMHO, Tomas J. Watson Jr. is the manager of the century (20th)and through this book you can gain some insights into his leadership style.

This book is an excellent guideline if you're having trouble working with your father or son in the family business... Entertaining...