Indeed, as APEx increased its impact on gm, more and more people started to take notice. It used to be that managers from the design center would call Ochalek when they had interviewed a great person who didn't really fit at the company. "So they'd send him or her to us!" Ochalek jokes. But two years ago, when Ochalek posted three analyst openings at APEx on GM's internal-hiring system, 400 people applied within a few days.
"I hope that down the line, APEx, as a group that you come visit down in the basement, will disappear," says Ochalek, "and that it will simply become a way of thinking and of doing business -- a networked system of people and connections that keeps innovation running continuously."
The early signs are positive, but both Ochalek and Taylor are clear that APEx and GM still have a long way to go. "The real triumph I've seen so far hasn't been in the products or the ideas that we've created. It's been in the minds of our people, and in the enthusiasm that we've been able to harvest," says Ochalek. "It's been in seeing a change from an iterative portfolio to an innovation-driven portfolio. This might seem like a little step, but for us, it's a huge triumph."
Contact Bill Ochalek by email (bill.ochalek@gm.com), or visit general Motors on the Web (www.gm.com).
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