Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/969348
76 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2018 Shaughnessy: I know you just got to Polar three weeks ago, but what do you have planned? Gurney: I don't want to discuss my plans too much. I'm still on a learning curve. I want to learn a lot about Polar and "the Polar way" in my first 30 days. I'm observing and ask- ing a lot of questions. I'm trying to learn how Polar operates and understand the customers and what their problems are. I don't expect to change things dramatically ini- tially, but I see some opportuni- ties to improve things and I'd like to test some of these ideas with Polar and discuss them with the whole company. I mean, I'm not a dictator. I want to work as a group and decide together where the most important things to be done are. Shaughnessy: I'm sure Ken's sort of been walking you through. Gurney: Yes, Ken has been tre- mendous. It's hard to fill his shoes. He has so much experience. He's so polished in the way he speaks and presents things. He's a great advisor. I'm so happy to have him as a mentor and I'm hoping and excited that he decided not to retire too quickly. I'm hoping he will visit and take my phone calls and give me advice when I'm in the middle of a situation. Ken Taylor: Well, this must sound like a mutual admiration society. I have to say that Dorine is extremely modest about both the breadth and depth of her engineering experience, and add to that, her marketing experience. I think, if I'm to pat myself on the back for anything, it would be persuading Dorine to come to Polar in the first place—it wasn't her intention. I did a great sales job on her. I was so much looking forward to this show because I was confident that we'd have a lot of what I would call Polar admirers, from current users coming by the booth to say hi, and to meet Dorine, and to tell her what a great company Polar is in so many ways. I feel vindicated in that. Shaughnessy: Dorine, had you worked on any- thing before with Polar? Gurney: I never had a chance to work with them directly, but I had heard about Polar when I was working at Tektronix. I worked with Ken's wife but not directly with Polar products. Shaughnessy: That's good. So, you sold the job, Ken. Taylor: I first started talking about retiring seven years ago but I wanted to stay here because it's such a great place to come every day. But a couple of years ago, I realized it was time to find some- body with, I'll say, skills and aptitudes that I don't have and would never attain. I started ask- ing around and at some point, my wife mentioned Dorine. Then I started snooping around Tektro- nix and hearing about her. She knows what I heard; I've told her. That's what caused me to decide to try to persuade her to come in our direction. Shaughnessy: Are you going to have to relocate? Gurney: No, that's the nice thing about this new position. It's not even two miles away from Tektronix. Shaughnessy: You're in the Pacific Northwest? Gurney: Yes. We're based in Beaverton and close to Portland, Oregon. It rains a little too much, although in the summer it's all green. Taylor: Yes, the location is no accident. You probably know that there's a lot of ex-Tektro- nix people like Dorine in the area. Shaughnessy: Ken, what are some of your high- lights of your time at Polar? Taylor: The highlights are, I'd say, almost impos- sible to think of, because every day at Polar Dorine Gurney