Reflecting On Tradition And Change

Changing, Holding on, and Making Something.

I’m not sure of the dates, but my grandfather worked for Eastman Kodak.

And I happened to belong to one of the few families in town whose father didn’t work at the mighty company…

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Starting young

Growing up is an interesting process. Even in the best of times, kids compare.

“My dad makes more money than your dad!”

“”Well my dad can beat up your dad!”

“Well my dad’s smarter than your dad!”

And for the most part this is either common knowledge, or never to be found out for real. The families in the neighborhood with the larger house probably do have higher incomes. The beef-cake like dad probably could beat up the normal fathers, and dads in general seem fairly smart to their kids.

His own path

Of those options, I weighed my dad higher on the later statement.

There were definitely larger houses on the block – the lawyer, executive, and others. And while he won a team lumberjack competition one time camping, I never looked at him as a goliath.

He was a smart man though, and I was reasonably confident that he’d compare well against others… (Looking at past articles, you’ll find that he was an entrepreneur and how his original plan to have the boys in the family to get away each fall has been a staple for more than 15 years)

And so while it might have been lower status to have a dad who worked for the state, he has my complete respect for building a career and successfully raising a family with six children.

Inevitability…

Mom still mentions that it seemed the one thing I wanted to do was to work for Kodak like my grandfather. It seems I still carry grandpa’s picture in the form of a Kodak business card in my wallet these long years since finding it in a desk of his that she let me have.

Here, let me show you:

As I say, I don’t know much of the details of his employment there, but I think he did fine.

My own path through Kodak

So it wasn’t much of a surprise to mom when I started to work for Kodak in 1990. I had spent my undergraduate years at the University of Buffalo, gotten married, and worked at the university for the Research Foundation for several years.

But UB would forever be located in Buffalo, and our families were in Rochester…

And Kodak was a fine place to work – I spent the better part of the decade there. My impression is that Kodak is like all other large corporations, and what worked in the 1900’s is not necessarily what will work in the 2000’s.

Oh sure – it’s still better to have great people, ideas, and corporate image. But the technical advantages of the old guard may not provide quite as much protection as they once did.

On Kodak’s legacy

It’s also significant that this past week Eastman Kodak has declared bankruptcy.

I was there at the point of inflection. It’s not that the corporate types didn’t see the changes coming, I think they did. It’s not that they didn’t respond to the situation, they tried. The engine that was film sales was like a golden shackle.

And that golden shackle came with an entire culture, process, and conceptions.

Break the shackle off, and you’ve lost the gold.

Leave the shackle on and you’re hobbled.

It may not have been possible – so listen with a careful ear when anybody tells you what the company “should” have done. These commentators may not have the chops to back it up – unless they themselves have transformed a similar company with a 100 year history through one of the rockiest and upheaval filled decades around.

And so to both my grandfather and Kodak, I say thank you.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.