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62 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2021 my place. Will they hire a designer who was previously laid off ? Will another designer depart his or her job to fill it? Design resource movement will go on and on and hopefully that is a good thing if we all can learn from it. So, what did we learn from 2020? Regardless of the five Ws—who, what, when, where, and why—our present state of being is subject to unforeseen circumstances. We've seen that a supersonically growing economy can be put on hold by the smallest of organ- isms—a virus in this case. We've seen that our strengths can become weaknesses if not paired with the diverse strengths of others. We've seen that no one is an island. We can- not exist alone. We're in it together. Hopefully, we've seen that we need a healthy industry ecosystem full of workers—moving about— who are healthy in mind and spirit. What must we do as we move forward? Germinate Write down your ideas, visions, and goals. ese are concept seeds which, upon sprout- ing, will help you to consider options to move positively within your organization. ey can help you to become a positive shock wave and foster positive movement within or even with- out if the culture or atmosphere becomes too compressed. Feed Find your strengths and feed them. Upon starting my new position at a new company, I was delighted to receive a copy of a book by Don Clion, Discover Your Clion Strengths. is positive surprise let me know that the leadership of this engineering group is inter- ested in helping me to understand my strengths and match them with the strengths of others in our engineering group. Grow We grow by pushing away the compost of our surroundings. We must push toward the light. As PCB engineering professionals, we must reach for technology and skill set nutri- ents which are easily found within the pages of this publication and the upcoming events sponsored by the PCEA and many other elec- tronics industry organizations. Transplant Are you new to the PCB engineering indus- try? Maybe you consider yourself a seedling. You will need to learn all you can in your pres- ent position and then eventually transplant to avoid becoming root bound. Again, this may happen inside or outside your company, but it must happen. Look to your organization's management as your gardener. For the organi- zation to benefit, you must grow. Are you an old timer in this industry? Your management team should consider you a valuable, aged, majestic oak. Most likely you have already been transplanted many times before and are thriving because of it. You provide shade and seeds for future ideas which can be planted anew. You make it easy for them to answer the most profound PCB engineering staffing ques- tion: "When is the best time to plant a tree?" Answer: "irty years ago." Message from the Chairman by Stephen Chavez, MIT, CID+ My message this month is short and simple. When it comes to printed circuit engineering, there is so much more to it than simply con- necting the dots. It involves knowing how to design a PCB correctly, successfully col- laborating with others, effectively communi- We've seen that our strengths can become weaknesses if not paired with the diverse strengths of others.