Two seemingly unrelated news articles caught my eye recently. EDS announced that Michael H. Jordan will be replacing Dick Brown as their new CEO. Of course, Dick Brown got a nice severance package for his five years at EDS. The Gap also announced that Toby Lenk will be President of Gap Inc. Direct, the online division of the Gap's many brands.

If you look at the background of both executives, they both have great credentials with successful stints at respected companies. Michael H. Jordan was the CEO of CBS, CFO of Pepsi, and President and CEO of Pepsi Worldwide Foods. Toby Lenk was the VP Corporate Strategy of Planning at Walt Disney. However, like many executives during the bubble era, both executives had unsuccessful stints at bubble era companies. Toby Lenk was the CEO of eToys which ended up being sold at a fire sale prices after an accumulated deficit of $430 Million in just three years. Michael H. Jordan was the Chairman of Luminant which eventually ended up going bankrupt after following an unsuccessful strategy of acquiring Internet consulting firms.

The interesting thing is how both The Gap Inc. and EDS are handling the background of these two executives. In the case of Toby Lenk, they're playing up his experience in online retailing, and essentially giving him another chance to learn from his failures at eToys. In the case of EDS, they're not hiding Michael H. Jordan's background at Luminant, but they are minimizing his involvement at Luminant. I can understand why they're downplaying his role at Luminant, given EDS's role in outsourcing and advising companies.

However, I think it's healthy to have an executive who has seem his/her share of ups and downs in their career. After all, companies go through periods of highs and lows, and you want an executive who has seen both and can therefore manage through the good times and bad times. The important thing is whether they're able to learn from their past mistakes and allow their companies to benefit from their painful mistakes. For the sake of The Gap and EDS's investors, let's hope that they have both learned something from their stint at bubble era companies and are able to lead their companies through these turbulent times.