When it came to the dark arts of corporate one-upmanship, many at Boeing were novices. Their products may have won in the marketplace, but the people who designed them were scientists and craftsmen, not sharp-elbowed operators. A wine club for employees drew such exacting hobbyists that it spawned more than a dozen commercial wineries, some regularly rated among Washington State’s best. There was undoubtedly some fat to be trimmed; T. Wilson himself, asked once how many people worked at Boeing, had jabbed back: “About half.”
