HP has provided some interesting summer reading, which will apparently continue well into the fall.

HP
commentary covers the spectrum of opinion on corporations, executives, and stakeholders. The
billionaire attacks the board for dismissing a CEO committed to shareholder wealth. Professors applaud
good governance in dismissing a rogue. A shareholder sues over exit pay and labor asks why the CEO
wins when jobs suffer. Competitors swipe at weakness; the press focuses on fumbles. Across the many
views, the CEO is pre-eminent.

HP market value declines by $15 billion in the three weeks following the CEO departure. Tuesdays
uptick in HPs stock price is explained on the message boards the board has decided on the new CEO.
The market speaks its all about the CEO.

Yet, as if in spite of the missing CEO, HP keeps moving the ball down the field winning the 3PAR
bidding war (also acquiring Fortify and pursing ArcSight), reporting earnings, initiating a stock buyback,
signing up customers (US Airforce, Thorntons and GS1), rolling out a hot new back-to-school lineup
including a 3D computer and even suing the departed CEO. HP is not missing a beat.

Whether HPs actions are the right actions isnt the point. All corporate decisions reflect judgment and
earn criticism. The point is that HP is acting coherently and swiftly. Its acting like, well, theres a CEO.
With only an interim CEO. Cathie and team are executing on strategy and are on plan.

And as such HP offers some lessons worth reviewing and extrapolating.

First, HP is a well-run, professional corporation. HP handles over a billion financial and customer
transactions annually, holds over 6,000 patents, and organizes the activities of 300,000 employees
across 5 continents. Well-designed structures and processes organize decisions and execution
around strategy, budgets, product road maps, supply chain efficiency, customer acquisition and
retention, talent development and many other vital functions. Its not just a CEO with good reading
glasses doing all that.

In a well-run professional organization, ideas win on merit not based on who said them. And no
individual even the CEO is above the law. When too much power accumulates in one place, it
undermines the professional organization. Professional organizations have self-regulating processes
like audit, like finance, like legal, like HR. Its no surprise that the finance function has provided a strong
backbone for HP. Its no surprise that HPs General Counsel, acting according to his professional ethics
and principles, had to inform the board of investigations.

Second, HP has good people. HP has leaders everywhere. HP executives who work 3 levels below the
CEO dont get much media attention, but they accomplish amazing things HP. In 2004, Cathie Lesjak
was SVP of Finance and Treasurer. As a high potential, she participated in several leadership
development activities, including a stint on the Adaptive Enterprise Strategy team. She brought her
financial skills and corporate perspective to improve Enterprise sales to customers and broadened
her perspective on HP well beyond the treasurer role. The development investment paid off for HP and
Cathie. There are many more like Cathie and these are the people making HP run, not the CEO.