Remarks of Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr. at Stevens Institute of Technology’s Graduate Commencement ceremony

HOBOKEN , N.J. — Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr. delivered the following remarks at the Graduate Commencement ceremony of Stevens Institute of Technology, May 24, 2007 :

Thank you President Raveche, trustees, faculty, parents, friends and members of the graduating class.

These moments are as anxious for the speakers as they are for the students and the families. As speakers, we feel under considerable pressure to impart some words of wisdom that are memorable, this at a time when you all, especially the children, have little patience for listening. You can’t wait for me to finish so you can get on with what you came for – getting your diploma – and the parents and friends are here to see their loved ones finally bring their years of hard work in one the best programs in the country to a successful conclusion.

Despite that, I would like to take just a few minutes to relate what I hope might be some useful information.

From an opportunity standpoint, we are truly in a time of mixed blessing.

You should see one side of that as you look at the stock market strength, and the other side, as you watch the evening news reports of global crises.

But believe me, as graduates in a technology/business environment you are still in the midst of an information age that will sweep through the next decade. You are here at a time when from a business and personal standpoint there are golden opportunities to leverage what you have learned into both personal improvement and societal good.

I make that observation based on the fact that companies will be introducing products and technologies at a rate never before seen: products and technologies that will have the potential to transform the way we live, work and interact; and products and technologies that can raise the standard of living and improve the quality of life for people all over the world.

They will be looking for smart, entrepreneurial graduates to help lead them to the next frontier, whether it’s the next generation optical network or Voice Over IP protocol, or wireless handheld device or the new formula for more efficient fuel consumption or a technology that stems the flow of pollutants and halts the trend of global warming. The opportunity is there for those who go after it – the opportunity to leverage your edu cation to your advantage and for the betterment of our society.

To test your ability to achieve that let’s ask a basic question: What did you learn while you were here? If you’re looking around, that’s not a good sign. Seriously – was it physics, chemistry, calculus, statistics, management? If you learned each of those subjects, and a few dozen more, then you did okay; but you didn’t learn quite what you needed to. What is so powerful about your edu cation is the combination of these subjects, the integration of these skills and the synergy of the program. What is so powerful is the process, the discipline and the tools that you have acquired.

It would be insulting to any of the truly great faculty here today to say that their program was not useful. But any one of them I think would agree with me that no one of these programs stands alone. Together, all of them are so powerful that they have provided you with the tools, capabilities and confidence to go out to be successful.

In some ways this will parallel your experiences in business. No individual succeeds alone. Everyone receives help – from associates, a group, a company – as well as intellectual and financial. The days of succeeding alone are long gone. There maybe one or two exceptions, but they are truly rare, which leads me to some of the business items I’d like to mention.

Some rules of the business game, so to speak:

Rule #1: There are no rules. All markets are open. Customer needs change daily. Competitors are here today and gone tomorrow. Innovation has the potential to dramatically alter an industry almost overnight. New businesses can enter the marketplace on a shoestring. Many of them don’t make it, but a small percentage do. Those that don’t at least disturb the balance in the market and probably influence all the companies that remains. It’s no place for the slow and the weak.

Rule #2: The customer is always right is the wrong outlook. Being right is interesting, but being delighted is the key to customer retention. Creativity counts: Offer a product or a service that is hard to duplicate and has real value to the customer.

Rule #3: Build your own asset. Create your own resource from which you can sell your product and offer your service. Create intellectual property through an invention or create real property that produces real value.

Rule #4: Spend company money like it’s your own. Too often in the past, companies were run without regard to how they spent money – usually because they were spending someone else’s. Unfortunately for their founders and investors, these companies are no longer in existence. They spent money like there was no tomorrow and they were right: for them, there wasn’t one.

Rule #5: Discipline will prevail. Having a great strategy is interesting, but focusing on execution is the differentiator. The difference between average companies and great companies is not their strategy, but their ability to execute. That requires discipline and focus.

Rule #6: Care about your people. You can only go so far with an idea and some assets. Eventually you have to multiply your effort. You can only do that with help from real people. And they will only respond to you if you truly care about them.

Diversify your work force. Use every opportunity to draw from every cross section of society to get help this is your customer base. It should also be your work force.

So as you look around the companies you have chosen to work for, I would challenge you to see if they do these things. If yes, then you could be on the right track. Of course, there are many other things that need to go right, but without these fundamentals it will be hard.

Also remember that whatever you do, do it with the utmost integrity and respect for those around you. Those are values that will prove invaluable in the long run.

Don’t forget about your family and friends. They are the ones who got you here today They helped you get started they are your grounding. They are your value setters and they love you.

Don’t forget your school. It has invested a lot of time and energy preparing you for the next step of this journey. Remember all you learned. Keep in touch with the people you met here and when you’re a huge success make sure you come back and pass on your ideas so that the next generation of students will get the benefit of your experience and your financial support.

Don’t forget your faith, because through it all, having some inspiration, some spirit, some sense of calm and well-being, will help you balance your life. Without it you could be a success. But you will never be a whole person. And that should be your goal: to be a total success.

Good luck and God speed.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University, is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,234 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with more than 400 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.

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