Lessons

by An Wang, Eugene Linden

This story of the man behind Wang Labs offers lessons about building a company, including managing growth in moderation, keeping the spark of innovation alive in a huge corporation, and standing up to an agressive competitor

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1986

Reviews

[Brian]

My interest in reading this book was aroused because I worked for Wang Laboratories from 1985 to 1993 and I was curious, more so at a distance of 20+ years. I actually had a signed copy of the book for years, but could never bring myself to read it as it just didn't feel right. Perhaps I should have. Perhaps every employee and especially all the managers should have. Wang Australia would have been a completely different place if we had all embraced Dr Wang's philosophy.

Apart from this, my personal interest, and ignoring the 'lessons' part (its way too late for me now), the book offers a fascinating insight into both the Chinese situation during WW2 and the beginnings of the computer industry that became 'IT' as we know it today.

Sadly, the book was written at the height of the Wang Laboratories influence of the computer marketplace. Dr Wang died only a few years later in 1990 and his company was already in decline and heading from a 3 billion dollar company to bankruptcy.

Had he lived, could he have saved it? We'll never know.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sitting on my father's shelf, and although he had previously told me about this Chinese-American entrepreneur, I had always dismissed his invitation to read the book. "Wang Laboratories? Never heard of it. Besides, the company failed." Yet one day, I decided to give it a shot and read with an open mind. Perhaps I could learn something.

I was surprised at how much I could personally relate and connect with the author, at how there were parallels between the challenges he had faced and those of my own life. Not to say that I ever owned a billion-dollar software company, but in the problems that he faced, I saw him apply a mindset that spoke to me.

An especially memorable part for me came in the middle of the book, where he describes a disagreement with a competitor. The situation should have been resolved in his favor more. But he points out that to obsess over the issue would imply that his most worthwhile achievements were in the past, that he had peaked. In my opinion, this is a simple but profound truth.

If you are interested in learning about the beginnings of the computer industry and how one man of an unconventional (and impressive) background made his way, this is certainly a book for you. There is always something we can learn from someone. That's a lesson I've certainly taken away.