Learning from mistakes
Rodgers says a company needs to never lose sight of quality.
“If I had it to do all over again and I was building a new company, from day zero, I’d hire a VP of quality,” Rodgers says.
“Anyone can make a product more cheaply than the next guy.
Where they fail is working quality into the process. Every company needs someone who gets up in the morning and thinks
about quality, and they need to have real authority to get things
done.
“You need to approach quality from a holistic standpoint, and
as a CEO, you need to demand quality in every aspect of your
organization, and then it will wrap itself around the manufacturing process. I was never trained in the mathematics of quality, and it took me awhile to understand it and embed it in all
of our processes. Quality is the main reason that Toyota has
been beating Detroit because they are perfectionists in design,
and they have never given up on their quality focus.”
And if a lack of quality or any other reason leads to a mistake,
don’t be afraid to admit that a mistake was made.
“That’s another thing I’ve learned through my experience as a
CEO, always admit your mistakes and never stop learning,”
Rodgers says. “There have been times in the history of this company when we’ve had a stellar ride and management took credit for it, so when there’s a problem, management needs to take
responsibility for that, as well. People will judge you not by
what you say but by your actions, so if you make mistakes,
admit it.”
HOW TO REACH: Cypress Semiconductor Corp., www.cypress.com