Intro Chapter 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
When Craig left Novell as a whole was shaken, but organizationally there was little impact. Craig had only a handful of people working directly for him, and they scattered to other departments before the final blow fell. Mark Calkins assumed his product specifying functions. Daryl Miller assumed his communications functions and in the new Novell no one needed to assume his visionary functions.
Judith, unlike Craig, had built a substantial organization under her. She had assembled the Marcomm, trade show and publications departments. The publications department had staffs for the LAN Times, Netware Technical Journal and Selling Red -- over fifty people in all.
In Ray's eyes these functions were all too large for a Novell which no longer needed to educate the world on what a LAN was, so the challenge was how to best get rid of them. The same close-knit community that supported Ray in his crisis with Craig and Judith would turn on him if he just hacked the department off cold, and he knew it. He once commented, "Laying off people in Utah is tough. When I had to let 20 people go from manufacturing I got a call from the governor."
Opportunity knocked when McGraw Hill contacted Ray about buying the LAN Times -- they wanted a publication to compete in this newly emerging industry. Ray sat down with a person from McGraw Hill, and came away smiling. They would take not only the LAN Times, but the rest of Novell's publication group and paid him good money to boot! Once more Ray had proved his business acumen.
For Ray, Craig and Judith, Novell was their baby. They'd made it happen, and they'd made it happen together. For six years they'd trusted each other, worked together, spilled blood and tears together and their baby had become something very special: a company that had made an industry.
This baby had generated a lot of money, a lot of pride and a lot of good times and breaking up that special relation was no easier than breaking up any other special relation.
Those close to Ray have said that the breakup aged him. Those close to Craig and Judith have commented on their bitter feelings towards how things turned out.
But, given what was at stake, it went very smoothly indeed. Lawsuits were threatened but never materialized. Novell continued to grow under Ray's tutelage, but not in the same way it would have if Craig and Judith were still there. Craig and Judith got married in the summer of 89 in a picturesque wedding at their new home in the foothills near Little Cottonwood canyon -- home to some of Salt Lake's best ski resorts. They went on to found Clarke Burton Corporation (now called the Burton Group) as a way of offering their expertise to the industry at large.
Perhaps in this case money solved some problems: Novell was still profitable. Novell continued to grow. Rocking the boat by either side would threaten that. Perhaps, in this case, money and success bought peace.
One of the amazing things about this free market system we live with in America is that people do make a difference. Novell without Craig and Judith continued to grow, but in a different way that it would have with them. The Novell of Ray, Craig and Judith was a Novell that concentrated on defining what a LAN was and educating customers as to what the benefits of a LAN were. The Novell that followed concentrated on embellishing what a Netware LAN was and on making money by concentrating on the three S's: service, software, support. But before that transition could happen the remaining influences of "Craig-and-Judithism" had to be exorcised. This was the company goal for 1989.
The crisis surrounding their leaving had been distracting and had depressed earnings growth. This gave Ray the excuse he needed to assume the role of "company doctor" and announce layoffs in June and July of 89. Those layoffs, plus the departure of the Publications Group, left Ray firmly in control and with a new generation of senior managers that were ready to pursue Novell's new goals.
Intro Chapter 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30