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 […]

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 […]

This seems like a repeat of the last time we set a project launch date without regard for the work content.  Do you see it that way? This person certainly looks the part and went to the right school, but they have not done this work before.  Why do you think we should hire them […]

It’s not a vacation unless you forget about work. It’s not a holiday unless you leave your phone at home. If you must check-in at work, you’re not on vacation. If you feel guilty that you did not check-in at work, you’re not on holiday. If you long for work while you’re on vacation, do […]

When the team can get things done without the leader, that’s the sign of a good leader. If the organization bypasses the leader and goes directly to the subject matter experts, that’s because the leader trusts the subject matter experts. When subject matter experts are trusted, they do amazing work.  Good leaders know that. When […]