Shipulski On Design

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When you’re asked to do more work that you and your team can handle, don’t pass it onto your team.  Instead, take the heat from above but limit the team’s work to a reasonable level. When the number of projects is larger than the budget needed to get them done, limit the projects based on […]

If you don’t want to go to work in the morning, there’s a reason. If’ you/re angry with how things go, there’s a reason.  And if you you’re sad because of the way that people treat you, there’s a reason. But the reason has nothing to do with your work, how things are going or […]

John Teresco of Industry Week wrote a thought-provoking article on assigning responsibility of product cost to the design engineering community (and not to the manufacturing community). An expert from his article: “We in the United States have mistakenly allocated the responsibility for [production] cost to the manufacturing folks. We forget that the cost has already […]

When there’s no light, no one can see. When no one can see, what do you do? Can you be a source of light? Do you care enough to do that? When there’s too much input, focus is difficult. When there’s a shortfall of focus, what do you do? Can you dampen things and bring […]

Design takes responsibility for what it does – the functional or emotional goodness, the data that demonstrates the new one is better than the old one, and for the progress made by customers. Design takes responsibility for what it’s made of – the materials, their condition, their pre-processing, and their post-processing. Design takes responsibility for […]

People try to diminish when they’re threatened. People are threatened when they think you’re more capable than they are. When they think less of themselves, they see you as more capable. There you have it. When someone doesn’t do what they say and you bring it up to them, there are two general responses. If […]

It’s not possible until you demonstrate it. It can’t be done until you show it being done. It won’t work until you make it work. It must be done using the standard process until you do it a much better way. It’s required until you violate the requirement and everything is fine. It’s needed until […]

What do you say when someone in power over you asks you to do something that violates your ethics?  Do you say yes because you know it’s that’s what they want and avoid conflict? Or do you say no because it’s unethical from your perspective?  Seems like a no-brainer, right?  A hard no, 100%.  And […]

It’s fine if you’re asked to do too much occasionally.  Things come up and must be addressed.  Sometimes it’s your turn and sometimes it’s others’ turn.  No one can argue with that.  And sometimes the work demands your special skills and you go the extra because the work is important and urgent.  You know how […]

As leaders of people, we have a responsibility to help people grow. One of the best ways to help them grow is to put them in a position to do so. But what does that look like? Here’s a process and some questions to help you quantify your efforts to help people grow. Choose one […]

When new ideas come from the outside, they are dismissed out of hand.  The technical term for this behavior is Not Invented Here (NIH).  Because it was not invented by the party with official responsibility, that party stomps it into dust.  But NIH doesn’t stomp in public; it stomps in mysterious ways. Wow!  That’s a […]