Bob Metcalfe a Highlight of Mass Comm Week

Bob Metcalfe at Texas State University.

Sometimes an interview and Q&A session turn into something special. Such was the case during Bob Metcalfe’s appearance at Texas State’s Mass Comm Week 2011.

Highlights of the interview included stories of how Harvard flunked Metcalfe for his first dissertation on ARPAnet. Thankfully his new employer Xerox, headquartered in Palo Alto, decided to keep him and let him finish reworking his dissertation while there, which he finally completed in 1973, focusing on packet communication.

Metcalfe knew Steve Jobs personally from the early days of Apple, and the stories of Jobs that he shared with us made him come alive for me in a new way. So interesting that Jobs tried to hire Metcalfe (who turned him down) and that they were friendly enough in spite of Metcalfe’s refusal that they even double-dated.  Funny that Jobs was impressed when Metcalfe could change a tire that went flat on one of those dates, and that he himself did not know how. Jobs even attended Metcalfe’s wedding. Metcalfe humorously acknowledged inviting Jobs had been a mistake because the charismatic Jobs overshadowed the bride and groom.

Metcalfe talked about the experience of founding 3Com only to have his handpicked board tell him a year later that they wanted someone else to run the company. Though a blow to his pride, he decided not to leave in a huff, instead changing roles in the company and finding a niche where his contributions were substantial. He learned new skills and honed others in so doing. His ability to deal with such setbacks with maturity and persistence were ones that held obvious lessons for the students in the audience.

After the interview, Dr. Metcalfe answered questions from students who were clearly fascinated by many aspects of his story. His emphasis on health, speaking, writing, planning, and selling as the five things he wanted each of his own students to learn hit home – especially health. That is where I felt most convicted, because I had neglected that my entire adult life until this summer.

But I’ve realized I absolutely have to make it a priority now – or I’ll end up in poor health with terrible mobility and quality of life. I’m finally exercising regularly several times a week. I am planning to manage my class schedule so I don’t end up needing to cut that out. I wonder if I would have waited so long to start regular exercise if I any of my professors had taught us about how important it is.

From reading about Metcalfe before he came, I knew he would be interesting. I wasn’t expecting the level of wisdom he seems to have acquired over the course of his life. His other four points were also ones I wish someone had taught me about when I was in college. Being able speak and write, to sell myself and my ideas, to create a business plan (even for a non-profit) in order to set goals for myself and my ventures – I’ve stumbled on their value by now, but how I wish I’d learned those things much earlier in life.

The long tail concept is one I had heard before, but only applied to economics. His application of that concept to social situations like Facebook and how FB has changed the desire for personal privacy so important to most of those of an earlier generation to the desire for fame, at least in our own circles, was one of those ideas I have been chewing on ever since.

Metcalfe’s Law and the interactive book he is planning to write about it were also fascinating.

The interview and Q&A with Bob Metcalfe has to be characterized as one of the highlights of any learning experience I have had in my entire 58 years. Just writing about it brings back the goose bumps and thrill of the evening.