Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467185
MAY 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 43 • Avoids the design review cycle and even cheats the design rule check settings on their own layout tool at the expense of downstream stakeholders. • Too self-absorbed to learn or upskill. Severely lacks both spoken and written communication skills required to under- stand or express the unifying language of industry standards. • When a challenge arises, they are always the victim. • Quick to require a corrective action report (CAR) of a supplier but would blow a fuse if one was ever issued by a supplier in return. Dealing With the Potential Design Narcissist If you have ever helped your daughter dump an abusive mate or couldn't figure out why the gal on your Tinder date couldn't stop talking about herself, you may have Googled "narcis- sism" to find out more. Because this is a PCB design and design engineering magazine, I have listed a few handy countermeasures to keep the design narcissist at bay: • Educate yourself. Make sure you are up to date on all the PCB industry design and manufacturing standards so that you are in a position to help and stand your ground professionally. • Create boundaries. Establishing and documenting capabilities, processes and workflows create useful peripheries for design and manufacturing teams to oper- ate within. • Speak up for yourself. Use the documenta- tion in the previous point to be clear and concise. When a project begins, make sure that all project stakeholders are rep- resented and are given an opportunity to express their requirement for success. • Keep your distance but make certain to highlight the respect your position merits on the project team. • Stick to the rules. A PCB design narcis- sist will try to bend the rules and push for favors which may rob success from another team stakeholder. As a project team, do not cave to these demands or you will feed the monster within. If you're worried about being a narcissist or design narcissist, as the adage goes, you proba- bly aren't one. However, if someone you know is exhibiting disregard for commonly available manufacturing capabilities, with tendencies to design in a vacuum and avoid contact with fel- low stakeholders, you may be in the presence of one. One sure sign: e designer utters the words "I alone can fix it!" We must recognize the folly of designing or manufacturing alone in a vacuum. We must watch out for each other, locally and globally. We must push back against any who would look out only for their own success within a PCB project, a company, an industry, a nation, or a world. ere is safety in numbers. We must check in with each other oen. And keep reading Design007 Magazine, and not just my column. DESIGN007 Kelly Dack, CIT, CID+, provides DFx centered PCB design and manufacturing liaison expertise for a dynamic EMS provider in the Pacific Northwest while also serving as an IPC design certifi- cation instructor (CID) for EPTAC. To read past columns or contact Dack, click here. If you're worried about being a narcissist or design narcissist, as the adage goes, you probably aren't one.