NEW OLD BLOOD

Is there a Lucent way of doing things? If there is — if this major vendor has imprinted the industry with that much of a signature strategy and style — the Lucent way is exactly what the company is trying to get back to with the hiring of former executive Pat Russo as CEO.

The industry is regressing all around us. Companies staggered and beaten by a harsh economy are cowering and folding into themselves. Lucent is no different as it seeks to regain some elite status of its past. The Lucent board of directors must believe that the best way to do this is to rehire someone from the old regime whose reputation is not soiled by the poor strategic decision-making, financial mismanagement and layoffs that brought Lucent to the brink of nonexistence during the past couple of years.

Under those terms, Russo's hiring is a bit of inspired thinking from a company that has made so many questionable decisions recently. The appearance is that Lucent knows what went wrong and is trying to do it right this time, ensconcing one of the people chased out of the company by Rich McGinn, the CEO who presided over much of the chaos that brought the company to its knees.

Some people say Russo's return is evidence that Lucent has not learned anything, that it went right back to its well and did not take advantage of the opportunity to find new blood. However, though Russo is a familiar face at Lucent, hiring a female CEO — and someone whose most recent management experience was in another industry — actually belies Lucent's stuffy reputation. (Though, we have to admit our money was on the return of Carly Fiorina, who has shown no fear in trying to push Hewlett-Packard in new directions.)

We are not completely endorsing Russo's hiring here, at least not yet. It is too early — and Russo has not said enough — to predict how she actually will manage Lucent and what she will do to strengthen the company as formidable competitors nip at its heels.

Ultimately, familiar faces and ongoing commitment to an established restructuring program are not what will make the coming years at Lucent successful ones. Familiarity puts investors, employees and customers in a comfort zone, but the notion that it can breed success is a myth. As the dust of economic recession settles, Russo and Lucent will be judged on how far the company removes itself from its past, how willing it is to invest in new technologies and how aggressive it will be in going after its competitors. Right now, all of this remains unclear.