KNOWING

Three of the nine fundamentals of KNOWING include:

• Learn the field you are in. Whether you’re in entertainment, education or farming, you’ve got to know every aspect of that business, inside and out. Join professional organizations. Read books and magazines. Attend trade shows and conferences. Even if you’ve been in the field a long time, new developments in that or related fields should be keeping you on your toes.

• If you’re part of an organization, take the time to learn its structure and how it operates. Be curious about how the people around you think and operate. Know all about them (and their jobs)—those who give you work to do and those to whom you give work.

• Learn the organization’s culture—its values and its customs and its plans, procedures and rules. Find out its history and what the organization has tried and failed or succeeded at in the past. Find out about your organization’s customers, suppliers and competitors. Know your organization’s products and services. Understand the community in which you work.

I recently had lunch with two young friends of mine, Joan and Mike, a married couple I have known for more than 20 years. Mike designs integrated circuits, and Joan is the president of a publicly traded company that manufactures integrated circuits. They both have master’s degrees from Stanford University and together are raising two beautiful children, now 12 and 14. As the meal progressed I realized that Joan and Mike, in spite of the very different nature of their jobs, have mastered the “knowing” component of their work.

“My first job, 20 years ago, was as a circuit designer,” Mike told me. “And that’s what I am today. I am a staunch individual contributor. I always knew I wanted to play a role in the making of things like computers, television sets, telephones and other electronic gizmos, and that’s exactly what I do.” If the measure of Mike’s success is how many of his designs sell, then he is very good at it.

To design a circuit that is going to be successful in the marketplace, Mike has to work with marketing people, application engineers and system designers who represent not just his clients, but their clients, as well. He has to stay on top of his field and every field that might have a use for his products. To do this he reads trade journals and magazines, takes courses, goes to industry trade shows and conferences, talks to other designers, buys and uses the end products, and stays alert. He also has to think ahead—to find a need and see what he can do to fill it. He has to work efficiently. The window of opportunity for the design-in-time of integrated circuits is about six to twelve months. If Mike can’t meet that time frame, he has failed.

“I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from being the center of my very little world,” he said. “If I could spend the rest of my working life continuing to design complex chips that sell like hot cakes, I would be a very happy man.”

At that, Joan laughed. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s not sitting back in an easy chair, smoking a pipe with his feet up, contemplating his success. He puts in a full day, everyday, but about once a year he puts in a week or so of 14-hour days to meet a deadline. To stay exactly where he is—at the top of his game—he has to deliver top performance all of the time.”

Joan, too, is at the top of her game, but she has her sights set on the next rung on the ladder.