"Now Norm, whatever you do, don't touch the espresso maker" - Phil Huber

The people-centric cultures that drove the astounding success of Triconex and Wonderware officially ended in December, 1995 with the respective departures of CEO Bill Barkovitz (scheduled) and Wonderware founder Dennis Morin (not so scheduled).  

Or did they?  Unofficially, the culture still exists, and indeed thrives in Lake Forest, California and other global reaches that Mr. Barkovitz and Mr. Morin established during their picaresque reign.  

One need look no further than the ubiquitous espresso machines in each breakroom at the Lake Forest campus as .   Controllers come and go, and these companies have had good ones.  Norm Farquhar was brought in by Wonderware in the early 1990's to become the new Vice-President of Finance as the company grew from startup status to being mentioned by Business Week as one of the most promising small companies in America.  By 1994, it was rated by many analysts as a better by than Cisco Systems.   Mr. Farquhar replaced Beccie Dawson, who moved to head the Human Resources deparment.   Mr. Dawson had been hired by CEO  Peter Pitsker in 1989 as the "Corporate Conscience" in 1989 and served as the company's first controller.   Actually, Beccie did not become Mrs. Dawson until after she was hired.  Founder Dennis Morin was building a company gym for Wonderware and asked a gentleman named Jim Dawson to install the equipment. 

Mr. Farquhar, as was his duty, began looking for ways to cut costs immediately.  He eyed the espresso machines as a candidate for making the list to er, take a look at.   After all, who would notice save for a cult like staff of programmers working 24/7 on the leaded beverage?   Phil Huber, already a legend as the chief technologist and co-founder of Wonderware (as well as playing a significant role at Triconex) stopped by Mr. Faquhar's office soon after he hired to offer encouragement.   Phil offered to help the new controller in any way he could, and he would always be open to cost cutting ideas.  There was one exception, however.  As he left the office after offering his own thoughts, Phil turned to Norm with one foot already in the hallway (positioned so those outside would hear) and said:

"Now Norm, whatever you do, don't touch the espresso maker"

The sound of steaming espressos, lattes, and cappuccinos are still heard in the breakroom!

The History of a Safer World