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Management

Technology is just whiz bang science projects
unless management and operations delivers it.
When I was an auto engineer I used to badmouth management. I was one of those passive grumblers, always willing to criticizes management but never will to be a manager myself.

Since those days I have learned that management is essential. This especially applies to self-management of your own business or even your life in general.

I might have been exposed to bad management at Ford in the 1980's but since then I have consulted to HP, back when The HP-way was a real thing. That showed me what good management is, and can be.

Another realization came from the great philosophy in The Innovator’s Dilemma by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. It showed how hard good management is, and why the auto business got overwhelmed by change and competition.		 newservicecreation.files.wordpress.com.jpg
This is what passes for modern management. Read Covey's 7 Habits book to see that we have substituted personalty for character.
Another milepost in my understanding of what was wrong at Ford back in the 1970s was from The Suicidal Corporation by former Ford PR man Paul H. Weaver. It confirmed my suspicion that Ford was a poorly-run company, at least back then.

Then I noticed how a coach can completely change the fortunes of a team. I read about John Wooden at UCLA. A good coach can take a bad team and make it great. That is a manager's accomplishment.		 Finally Paul Henneuse, an engineer I worked with, made a great point. He posited a situation where there are 3 to 5 engineers working on a project. You have to hire or appoint a new person. What would be more efficient and get the job done sooner and better? Paul stated that around 3 to 5 people, the next one should be a manager. After working at dysfunctional startups and multinational corporations, I would have to agree. As long as that incremental person is competent in management.
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Purchasing bullies

Purchasing bullies

Don't let purchasing or other ancillary departments run your company.
The high-volume consumer product needle:

The high-volume consumer product needle:

efIts tempting to after high-volume business, but it might be a long-term mistake.
move up a little to the right move down to the left
Scientists and Engineering

Scientists and Engineering

Scientists only have to make it work once.
Engineers have to make it over and over, cheaply.
move up a little to the right This is the end.

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