30 Years in the Making and Oh Yes, Can I Borrow Your Belt?

I first met Tim when he worked for (I think this is the name – it’s so long ago it is outside of the ken of the World Wobly Web) Lex Software who had built, with Microsoft, an Executive Information System (EPM/CPM in today’s language) toolkit that married Excel to what was then Arbor’s Essbase (at least I think this is what it was). Tim was the teacher and we (my fellow J&J Executive Information Systems colleagues) were learning about the new client/server paradigm. For any J&Jers out there, this was at 410 George Street, right across the street from Corporate; I believe it is still a J&J office.

That is exactly everything I remember about that training session, other than this: Tim forgot his belt, felt self-conscious, sized me up as being (probably) nice and generally the same size, and asked if he could borrow a belt. With me as recent(ish) college graduate, I had exactly one black belt to go with my suit (everyone wore suits), that left my one other belt which, alas, you cannot see because of Buzzsprout's limitations.  Think brown braided belt with a brass buckle.  Truly, an artefact of the 1990s.

I think Tim felt he was underdressed for J&J – at the time (and maybe still is – it’s been 29 years since I last set foot in a J&J office) a very conservative and buttoned down place.

The Past is a Foreign Country, They Do Things Differently There

What was it like, boys and girls, when all and sundry wore a suit to work? Kind of like this:

( Wow, again, you can't see it.  Buzzsprout, either you need to add graphics or poor old Cameron needs to get a clue.  Maybe both.  Try this link back to EPM Conversations.)

No, that is not me (you are over on the website, right?), but in fact Tony Randall (Who knew I hobnobbed with Hollywood royalty?  I didn't, of course. AI can be a wondrous thing; I have no idea who the woman is.) What is accurate is this is how people dressed. I cannot speak for the woman, but that is a fine example of a charcoal grey sack suit and a repp tie -- my Ivy Style exemplar. Work environments are so different now, it’s almost inconceivable. Such is the passage of time and through time reputations are made – Tim’s is stellar as is this second part of his interview.

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