An Impossible History

Every five years, I seem to hear the same question, "How many more years can the success continue?". It's probably not a bad question to ask. But before raising the query out loud, perhaps we should consider why the question is being asked. Are we just being like the news and dwelling on the downside of life? That's unfortunate if we are. On the other hand, not knowing what lays ahead in the future, we should enjoy today. Doing whatever we can to improve life for one another.

I recall in the 1990s asking some people, "If this is the last year I work in VM/ESA, what's the most important thing I should accomplish?". Now that did fuel some rumors that I was leaving, but that wasn't my intent. I was looking for help in setting priorities and knowing that what I did was important. That year we fixed a number of problems in the VM state sampling that was causing problems in performance analysis and keeping customers from getting the most out of their VM systems. It became the 'thing' I had to do.

Someone in the organization came to me not long ago. They were a little overwhelmed at the news of cuts and pressure to do more, and the uncertainty of the future. Empathizing with them, I shared the following quote that I had heard recently, which was one of the driving forces behind me starting this blog:

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." - Edward Everett Hale

At SHARE last week, I got to meet Dave Tuttle, part of the original VM/370 team. He had a number of stories to tell. The one quote I wrote down was, "It was mostly a matter of doing the impossible". The VM product has a solid foundation in its design points which have survived decades. When you add talented people to the proven design principles, you get a combination that succeeds. When those people are fueled by passion for the product and compassion for others, you have an unstoppable force. I still believe we have those people. When I see younger people inside and outside of IBM working with the product that are cut from that same cloth, I know this impossible history has a possible future.