ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a story about amateurs. A piney north-woods scent pervades the oak- and brick-walled offices, and the workers seem exceptionally relaxed as Boyle inspects the premises. The advertising image is strangely consonant with and divergent from reality. A certain level of unfamiliarity with a new business is not necessarily a problem; it can even be an advantage, says Joie Gregor, managing partner of Heidrick and Struggles's New York office. Probably the biggest difference between being recruited from a top job in another industry moving essentially, from one exclusive club to another and the serendipitous route is the cost of failure. Big Blue as both a hardware manufacturer and a technological service provider, the canny outsider engineered a renaissance for the computer giant. Boyle is a short, solid woman of 73 with a unique accent that combines German and northwestern tones, and a gimlet stare over multicolor-framed half-glasses.
