Rob Herman

When it comes to building a culture of high performers, people who feel empowered, driven, and valued, Stephen Covey’s principle of “sharpening the saw” resonates deeply with me. Here's how I put it into practice at Lenovo: linkedin.com/pulse/how-we-c…

I just had the craziest experience at the airport. We are about to board a flight to Atlanta when the pilot from the incoming plane walks out of the jetway. Guy is probably late 50s, salt and pepper hair, military look. The kind of pilot you instantly feel good about seeing on your flight. Pilot walks over to the counter, gets on the PA system, and starts addressing everyone. “Folks, I’ve been doing this a long time. Flying one of these jets is easy. The hard part is looking at 130 people and telling them their flight is going to be delayed.” Audible groans throughout the boarding gate. Most people here are flying to Atlanta as a layover before another flight. 130 people just had their day become a complete mess. The pilot goes on. “I get it, trust me. But here’s the deal: During our landing, we had a small mechanical issue. I’m not your pilot for the next leg, but I don’t feel confident the jet’s safe to fly until we have a mechanical team look it over, and I don’t feel comfortable asking the next pilots to fly you guys until we get confirmation.” He points at the agents next to him behind the counter: “Now, none of this is the agents’ fault. Please be kind to them. I’m the one who made this decision, not them, so any inconvenience you experience is my fault. Just please know that I don’t do this lightly, and I’m only doing it because I believe it’s in the best interests of everyone’s safety.” Now this is where the story gets crazy. The pilot puts the microphone down, grabs his suitcase, and all the people in the gate… Start clapping. I’m not joking, everyone starts clapping for the guy. 130 people who just had their travel plans ruined give an ovation to the guy who made the decision and delivered the message. All because he addressed them with decency and transparency, took ownership of the decision, made it clear that it was necessary, and explained why it was in everyone’s best interest. It’s honestly one of the best examples of strong communication—of strong leadership, for that matter—that I’ve seen in a long time. @Delta, whoever your Atlanta to Wichita pilot was this morning, he’s one of the good ones. Please tell him the delayed passengers of flight 1637 appreciate what he did.

@NCDOT @NCparks it has been over 2 years since this bridge was closed. I nearly got hit by a car again on Ebenezer Church Rd again. FIX THIS BRIDGE NOW!!!! Bridge Closure on South Turkey Creek M.U.T. | NC State Parks share.google/C76bVCGwn7fZhm…

@NCDOT @NCparks it has been over 2 years since this bridge was closed. I almost got hit by a car again on Ebenezer Church Rd. FIX THIS BRIDGE NOW!!!! Bridge Closure on South Turkey Creek M.U.T. ncparks.gov/state-parks/wi…

@levie I've been asking this question for nearly 2 years - won't enterprises need professional services to efficiently and broadly deploy AI? As @levie describes, there are so many elements to orchestrate, it will require hands-on and intelligent management.

Forward deployed engineers, or equivalent, are about to become one of the most in-demand jobs in tech. And one of the most important functions for AI rollouts. Deploying agents is far more technical of a task than most people realize, often far more involved than deploying software. Software generally works the same way every time, and generally for the past few decades has been updated versions of an existing technology or concept (which basically means easier for the enterprise to update their workflows on a newer system). With agents, you’re actually deploying the equivalent of work output within the enterprise. The customer is effectively using you as a professional services provider for a task, which they expect to get solved nearly end-to-end now. This means you need to actually deeply understand the business process as a vendor, and get the customer from the current to the end state seamlessly. Companies need help figuring out which models will work best for their workflows, they need extensive evals setup often, they need change management support for workflows, they need to get their data setup for the agents, and constant tuning of the agentic system for their process. Massive role in tech now. And another example of the kind of highly technical work that AI is creating.

@kofinas This is anecdotal but I've had some surprisingly good experiences with human customer service representatives lately (the IVR is another story). And several of these have been with the IRS!

The vast majority of people working in customer service for US companies have environmentally induced mental disabilities. This is a product of (1) learned helplessness and (2) the internalization of institutional inertia resulting in a total failure of common sense. I would love to see some research done in partnership with wireless carriers to determine how much time the average American spends on such phone calls with call centers and how much it has grown in the last 10 years.

Would you believe me if I said, of the 10 days we spent in Ireland last week, we had 9 straight days of bright sunshine? Spectacular trip!

@tom_peters @HarvardBiz @tom_peters Early in my career in the early '90s, I read 'In Search of Excellence', 'A Passion for Excellence', and 'Thriving on Chaos ' - they all had a foundational impact on me and guided my thinking throughout my career. The message got through to some.

@HarvardBiz I am 83. Went “off duty” at 78. Preached this gospel in 2,500++ speeches from 1979 to 2021. AND “THEY” STILL DON’T GET IT. (damn damn damn …)

Research on how a shift in employee experience increased stores' revenue by more than 50%, and profits by nearly as much. s.hbr.org/3OR7wQ9

@kofinas I once expressed my view to my BIL about Trump not being a good man and especially his lying. My BIL's response was, "All politicians lie..." @kofinas one of your guests once said that the leader is a reflection of the country. Our system and our society is breaking down.

I love the "clearly there were signs of low character, we knew that" line thrown in at the end there as though it weren’t central to the plot or to the "mystery" that explains why Trump behaves the way that he does. This has always been the fatal conceit: the idea that we could look past Trump's character flaws—his mean-spirited petulance and wild mendacity chief among them—and that deep down he wanted what was best for the country. I understand voting for Trump out of anger or as a gamble, but I never understood those who minimize his flaws or who took pleasure in watching him denigrate anyone who opposed him in the most vicious terms, while holding court like a lunatic for hours, inventing the most absurd stories while simultaneously vilifying members of the press who challenged him on the merits.

the greatest regret i have is underestimating the value of long term compounding. friendships, people, places, all get better with decades. beautiful things dont even start to reveal themselves for years. it is entirely what life is about. a few good things for a long time.

Here are some ways in which the world has gotten better.

@PatrickMoorhead @MoorInsStrat I get the sense that advancements in AI are going to accelerate the realities of physical AI. Can you lay out the spectrum of what that looks like and timing? No robotic dogs, please. 😃

@businessbarista Claude

I want to start a community dedicated to Claude Code. It’s become the gateway drug to coding and experiencing the power of AI for tons of people. This will be a space for people to share killer use cases, agentic workflows, proven prompts, and connect with other CC obsessives. Comment “Claude” if you want to join.

@Tom_ZR_Race Thank you, Thomas!

@RobJHerman Oh wow - did not expect to read this... Wishing you all the best for your future

After an incredible journey, today I'm announcing my retirement from Lenovo. It's been a privilege to be part of this company's evolution. Thank you to my incredible colleagues, partners, and my family for their unwavering support. Can’t wait to see what you all achieve next!

Today's edition of my newsletter is all about 'surprise and delight'. It's a time-honored tradition in marketing, sure, but I've found it has a place in researching, developing, and innovating products, too. Here's how it creates forward momentum: linkedin.com/pulse/surprise…

Very proud of the @Lenovo Workstations team for making the #D3D30 list again! Lenovo Access is one of the 30 new technologies from around the world that could give your product dev work a major boost. In their words: "Remote Muscle" 💪 More info here: techtoday.lenovo.com/us/en/workstat…

@SokeyeA Econ degree; entry level finance/accounting job in R&D/Mfg facility; moved to product cost analyst. One day this team showed up who looked like they were in charge. I asked my buddy who they were - he said, oh they're the product managers. I said, "that's what I want to be!"

What’s the lore behind choosing your career path ?

When you have five minutes to make a decision that's going to change a life forever, you want to be sure you've got tech that can stand up to the pressure! Great to see @Lenovo workstations playing a part in the NHL draft for the Pittsburgh Penguins: lnv.gy/3IWC1RY

It appears he's saying, "I love your ThinkPad!" 😁