On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:15:33 -0500, Bob T. wrote:
>Product knowledge is secondary, and really not all that
>important.
>That's why you see stuff like the head of Pepsi, going to Disney,
>whose head in turn goes to GM.
Let's re-state that. Product knowledge (or a knowledge of the
business) is not a requirement for GETTING HIRED. It CAN BE an
absolute requirement for DOING IT WELL and MAKING GOOD DECISIONS.
How many stupid corporate reorganizations and mergers have you
heard of? If you look carefully, you'll find far more bad ones
than good ones. How often do these mergers result in the good guys
getting let go and divisions falling apart? I'd bet a bunch of us
have worked for companies where it has. My wife works as a
consultant to pharma companies, and she sees it ALL THE TIME!
25-30 years ago, I sold pro audio to broadcasters. I knew all the
sharp engineers in town, there were still some guys owning the
stations (or at least running them) who knew something about
broadcasting, both technically and programmatically (although the
transition to the Monopoly-gamers was already in full swing by
then). Over the next decade, ALL of the good guys disappeared,
replaced by guys who can't tie their shoes. The last Owner in town
(Chicago) who actually knew anything about radio, built it from
the ground up, and ran it with his wife for 40+ years, sold it a
couple of years ago and retired. The only qualification now for
owning a station is the ability to con a bank into loaning you the
money, and the willingness to "pay" an absurd sum to buy it. Tell
me that any part of broadcasting is better now than it was 40
years ago.
I've spent a fair ammount of time over the past 10 years managing
my personal investments, and that means learning a lot about how
these companies work, AND HOW WELL THEY SUCCEED. A bunch of those
mentioned in this thread DON'T.
Let's talk about some technical companies that ARE run by
engineers, and are DAMNED sucessful BECAUSE of it. Ever hear of
Dolby? Ray Dolby, an ENGINEER, still runs the company, and it is
one of the most successful brands in the world! I still see him
in the technical papers sessions at AES conventions, both in the
US and in Europe. Ray gave the invited Heyser Memorial lecture
about 3 years ago and told about how his company grew, poured
money into R&D, and grew some more. Several of their most
profitable products took 5+ years of heavy R&D, with a lot of
frustration and poor progress in the early years of each. Most
non-technical managements would have pulled the plug or sold off
the division.
Ever hear of Intel? One of the great brands in the world, and
they have always been engineering managed. Our son-in-law has
worked in their marketing area for 15 years or so. He knows next
to nothing technically, and that may be true of lots of their
marketing folks -- but the guys making the decisions are heavy
hitters!
And then there's this guy Gates. As I recall, he started out as a
nurd, and has managed to make a few fairly smart business
decisions over the years.
All of us know engineers who have their heads buried in labs, who
have no business sense, no political awareness, maybe are short on
social skills, and couldn't manage a three-car funeral. But there
ARE some sharp engineers who are also good managers and
businessmen, and who have good political sensitivies. And one of
them SHOULD head the FCC.
Jim Brown K9YC
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|