IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1546209
BY J O H N WATS O N , PA LO M A R C O L L EG E 18 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2026 E L E M E N TA RY, M R . WATS O N At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the U.S. men's 4x100-meter relay team of Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker, and Cravon Gillespie was ex- pected to contend for gold. With some of the fast- est sprinters in the world, reaching the final seemed almost certain. Instead, the heavily favored team finished sixth in its qualifying heat and failed to ad- vance, missing the final by just two-hundredths of a second. This massive disappointment was not due to a lack of individual speed but to a poorly exe- cuted baton exchange between Kerley and Baker, which forced both runners to slow down at the most critical moment. Four exceptional athletes entered the race, but they did not perform as one connected unit. Their failure demonstrated an important lesson: Bringing talented individuals together and calling them a team does not automatically make them one. Indi- vidual ability cannot overcome poor coordination or a failed exchange. PCB development works much the same way. A company may assemble outstanding special- ists, but if information and responsibilities are not exchanged effectively, even the most talented group can fail to reach the finish line. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote an article PCB Design Is a Team Sport (Revisited)