Bob Congdon
This is my farewell toast to my friend Bob Congdon who recently resigned from IBM and is heading to Seattle to work of Microsoft. I once heard someone describe Bob as ‘scary smart’ and that’s true, Bob is way smarter than the average person. But, the world is full of smart people and that’s not what really differentiates Bob. What makes Bob better than all the rest is he makes everyone he works with better. Bob never uses his intellect to hammer down co-workers or put himself on a pedestal; quite the opposite. Bob listens to ideas from the team and steers team discussions like a conductor steers an orchestra. The end result is a team that produces better product and everyone feels like a contributor. I’ve also heard Bob described as a ‘man of few words and of many’. Bob can cut to the core of a topic like a precision drill or meander around a topic like a lazy river. This later tendency has proven most amusing over the years. I’ve worked on and off with Bob for around 5 years