Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538540
AUGUST 2025 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 17 This is so much better than an assembler who thinks, "My job is not to wonder why. I just need to do what my boss tells me, and if I keep my nose to the grindstone and my mouth shut, I'll get a nice pay- check, and 30 years from now, I'll be able to comfort- ably retire." That attitude kills creativity and progress. Being employee-owned [ESOP] changes that process. It helps, but you can be employee-owned and still lose this spark of creativity. We had a guy who used to say that we're paying for people's hands and minds, and it didn't matter whether you were an engineer, assembler, accountant, or a clerk. Good leadership creates the right environment, because if leadership isn't receptive, none of it matters. We get to create that environment we want, posi- tive or negative. That's a choice. Jessi Hall and John Hendrickson helped me pre- pare for this interview and gave me some ques- tions to ask you. Jessi's question is, "Why do you prioritize culture in your organization?" Culture is essential; it eats strategy for lunch, no question about it. Culture is generally ethics, and the fundamental part of ethics is the golden rule: Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. So, always do the right thing. Now, do I always do the right thing? Hell no. I'm human. I fail. That's where you need humility, for- giveness, and grace—those are important parts of our culture here. The only person who makes a mistake is the one who doesn't try anything. I think there's culture with intent rather than just culture by circumstance. I'll agree with that. John's question is, "What excites you to come to work every day?" Every day is a little something different, like doing this interview with you, Barry. I'm lucky I have this interesting job, and I'm excited about it when I get up in the morning. Mark Twain said, "When I wake up in the morn- ing, the first thing I do is I go get the newspaper off the front step and open it up to the obituaries. And if my name isn't in there, I figure it's going to be a pretty good day." I like that. In your view, what is it that the world underestimates? We underestimate the power of creativity, invention, and inventing the future. In 1961, psychologist Carl Rogers wrote in Becoming a Person that the expr- ession of creativity is a fundamental human need. Admittedly, executing on creativity is a lot tougher than it was 50 years ago. There's a lot more sand in the gears when you look at every time there's another page added to the energy code, for example.