Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538540
ness the way our moms would want us to. You'd never want someone to buy something if you thought they didn't need it. We have had a supplier conference for the past 25 years, and because our suppliers are our part- ners, we've recently been calling it our "partner conference." In many companies, a VP of purchasing will get his paper graded on how much he has managed and how much he has been able to lower the cost of the company's inputs. What's the easiest way to do that? Strong-arm your suppliers? When you do that, pretty soon everyone wants to starve you off your island, and then you're picking on the very people who you depend on to make your stuff. Instead, partner with them. Our approach is to spend time to teach what we're doing and making, and how they are a part of it. Whether you're making machine screws, chem- icals for etching copper off laminate, machines for stuffing circuit boards, laminating them, cut- ting, drilling them, whatever it is, it's not just about that drill repeatedly going through a circuit board. It's about understanding what these boards are for. What do they go into? What am I a part of when I'm sharpening drills for SEL? It is inclusive. I am part of the mission on the other end of it. We need to see the pro- cess all the way through, from our customers to their customers. That keeps our perspective broad. My dad would say that when you're doing close-up work, give your eyes a break and look out the window from time to time. The same goes for our minds, right? Exactly. When you design a circuit, a package, or test, what are you contributing to? When you get a test up and running, take a breath, look out the window, and think, "One day, this thing will be X." Then you become a part of it, and that fulfills a very important human need. I'm a "get 'er done" guy, so people might think I'm impatient. Patience is a virtue. Am I patient? You have to want to be patient, and at some point, the patience runs out. But I try to make it that far, at least. There's a natural pace. If you go too slow, you feel the stress. If you go too fast, you feel the stress. But I like to be closer to the stress on the fast side than on the slow side. Paralysis by analysis. When I'm busy studying something too much, the objective soon becomes to study it instead of to make something. You lose sight. Sooner or later, you've got to decide. If you're afraid to make the decision, get somebody else to do it. Once you've made the decision, then you can concentrate on the important, and it does take the urgency out of it. You have mentioned inventing the future. I like that because the future isn't predetermined; we get to create it. Yes, a fundamental gift of God in every one of us is creativity. Society needs rules. It's not okay to say, "Hey, you can drive on either side of the road." But creativity and the rules of society can coexist. The challenge is making it all work well together. It's not necessarily about bal- ance but about staying open- minded and not just accept- ing the way things are. One way to encourage this is empowerment. For example, your job may be to assemble something, but your boss has encouraged you to make suggestions and write them on the whiteboard where everyone will see them. Later, when we have our standup meet- ing, we will talk about those ideas and others. Empowering people is an important part of that creative process. Ye s , a f u n d a m e nt a l g i f t of G o d i n eve r y o n e of u s i s c re at i v i t y. 16 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2025