“Who wants to work for a Wizard of Oz who bangs on the drums and decisions come out?” Gerstner asked.

In order to get his employees to start thinking the same way, he changed the compensation system to make salaries dependent on team, not individual, performance.

Previously, “it was every man, woman and child for themselves,” he said. “People could be making lots of money while the company could be floundering.”

This approach is a refreshing exception to the prevalent corruption in corporate America, Gergen said.

Yet one audience member questioned whether Gerstner’s resuscitation of IBM merited a reported $14 million-a-year salary.

“There are too many people paid lots of money for no performance,” said Gerstner, asserting that his triumph involved the highest of stakes.

“IBM is a national treasure,” a Nobel laureate once told him. “Don’t screw up.”