Gold wire, three mentors, and a lesson that stuck
This is Jonathan Hare's account, with its provenance shown. The person or organization named has not yet claimed or corrected it.
Jonathan Hare's first paid manufacturing job, at HP's scientific instruments division in Santa Rosa — later spun out as Agilent. He learned to solder, install circuit boards and assemble instrument chassis.
Three assigned mentors taught him the HP Way: Hewlett and Packard's principles of deep respect for people, operational excellence and continuous improvement.
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He had authorized access to the secure boxes holding spools of solid gold wire. He assumed at first it was a flex — a way of signaling that HP built the most expensive instruments on the market. Then he learned the engineering reason: gold is simply the best conductor, and in a precision instrument absolute fidelity matters.
When it matters, make sure you have the best. The lesson was permanent.
He thanked David Packard personally while at Stanford GSB, and Bill Hewlett through an introduction from E. O. Wilson. Hewlett lit up at Wilson's name and spoke about his love of Wilson's environmental mission — which the Hewlett Foundation still funds.
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Radar, chaff, and the Stanford lab at the center of Silicon Valley
Open →who championed themThe father of Silicon Valley — and Hare's grandfather's mentor
Open →the introduction to HewlettThe commission, the foundation, and the name
Open →the next technical jobNuclear safety systems — and a position outside orthodoxy
Open →the other teenager on an HP lineHP as a teenager, Terman's Valley, an Oregon commune, India, Zen — the parallels the record can actually show; and the borrowed Ferrari, the Z8, and the woman who connects them
Open →Everything above is a distillation. The primary source is published in full, so that any claim on this page can be walked back to what was actually said — and where the two differ, the source governs.
The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
Read the source →Primary source · S-182The account this page was distilled from, preserved as dictated.
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