Member-only story

Essay

Molehills Out of Mountains

The autonomy granted to IBMers

Susan Brearley
IT Chronicles
Published in
7 min readJan 21, 2025

--

Art by the author

IBM was known for having mottos — slogans to work by, but also, slogans to live by.

You knew you were an IBMer when you really believed in the motto.

Sure, the company had a mission statement, but it’s not the thing I remember about the company — it’s not what was infused into the culture.

No — the mission statement was for the higher-ups. The motto though — it was like a furry mascot — stronger than a brand — it was the thing you could rally around that most reflected what was important to the culture, to the employees.

When I joined in 1982, the slogan you would see on most every employee’s desk, in either a wood or plastic pyramid, was THINK.

And it was an imbedded practice. Since 1911, IBMers were known for being thinkers. That appealed to me. I had always been serious about my introspection. It made me feel as if I found a home — a place that valued my seemingly limitless capacity for problem solving. And not just a…

--

--

IT Chronicles
IT Chronicles

Published in IT Chronicles

Human Stories About Their Careers in Information Technology

Susan Brearley
Susan Brearley

Written by Susan Brearley

Writing on Medium since 2016. Boost Nominator, EIC (10 publications), Entrepreneur, Coach, IMBA Community Leader, NGO Founder. https://linktr.ee/SusanBrearley

Responses (5)