Step into a meeting and take some
ideas and criticism. Be out there
listening to what people have to say. You want to just drop in
on some meeting and say,
‘What’s this meeting about,
how’s it going, do you have the
tools you need, do you have
the resources you need, what
problems are you facing this
month, this quarter, what’s
your biggest single problem,
and maybe there’s something I
can do — or at least I’m aware
of it even if there is nothing
specific I can do to help out.’
The most important thing is
to be seen as being able to
accept criticism and be seen
as open to accepting ideas that
are not your own. If someone
says, ‘We don’t like these tools;
why haven’t we looked at this
new tool on the market? Everyone says it’s hot; why aren’t we
using it?’ We go out and we evaluate the tool, and, if
they’re right, we buy it.
If you don’t ever do anything
about it, people will stop bothering. But if they see that you
act on it and you’re listening,
then they know it’s worthwhile
that they bring things up and
are encouraged to do so.
Drive innovation by explaining
your problem. If you go to even
the entry-level engineers and
you communicate very, very
clearly what we’re trying to
do and why and how it
solves the bottleneck the
customer has and they
understand the problem,
then they’re much more likely to come up with a solution
than if you just tell them
make it five times faster.
If they understand the bigger
picture, they may come up
with something that is truly
innovative, meaning not just
doing it faster than last time
but also actually doing it differently because they understand the problem.
If you actually expose the
entire situation to the employees and say, ‘Look, the customer thought he wanted this,
but based on the latest input,
now they need to do something slightly different,’ and if
you make it very clear and
communicate, then everyone
will move forward in this new
direction.
They need to feel that they
are very close to the decision-making so that they can see
the logic behind it and be part
of that process.
HOW TO REACH: NetLogic Microsystems Inc., (650) 961-6676 or www.netlogicmicro.com‘ target=’_blank’>www.netlogicmicro.com
