HP Labs: Algorithm predicts sales, manages supply chain (opens in new tab)

I recently spent a year at HP labs. It was a very interesting place, operating more like an academic department than a software development organization. The staff members worked more or less on what interested them. They would vie for sponsorship of their projects, often doing things in two or three different official groups. Every year the projects would be peer reviewed and sponsorship would be based, more or less, on the results. Of course, if lab management or higher ups liked your project, it didnt matter what your peers thought. The pace was very relaxed compared to a startup, except around the individual's deadline for the submission of a paper.

I suppose the Labs suited the corporate need for innovation. It supplied new ideas that could be factored back into the corporation. But the really disruptive ideas seem to come out of nowhere in the startup scene. Sure, AltaVista came out of Digital Labs, but Digital, the corporation didnt seem to know what to do with it. Then Google came out of nowhere and took over the world.

I had been at HP labs a couple of months when I met Jaap for more than a brief introduction. Afterward I asked the lead researcher for the project I was on who Jaap was. He replied, "Oh, he's your boss." It seems I had 4 bosses: the Architect in charge of implementation, the Business Manager who represented the VP outside of Labs, the Researcher who's project it was, and Jaap who paid me.