Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Being a fan is irrational
Posted on 08:56 by hony
Let's pretend you were a manager at a company and you had an employee you really liked. But every time you assigned that employee a project, they'd talk up how great they were going to do on it but their results would range from mediocre to abysmal. At the end of the project you'd be disappointed.
How many projects would you give this employee before you stopped liking them so much? How many mediocre projects must they screw up before you are forced to face reality and fire them?
And yet, there are still people who are Royals fans.
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How many projects would you give this employee before you stopped liking them so much? How many mediocre projects must they screw up before you are forced to face reality and fire them?
And yet, there are still people who are Royals fans.
_
Waller's Law of Engineering
Posted on 07:50 by hony
I'm working on a project at work that could "change everything." And when I say "change everything" I mean it would disrupt a market of really expensive devices by bringing in a very cheap device that does all their essential functions as well or better. I cannot describe it in detail do to disclosure limitations, but let's just say its a medical device that costs 6 bucks to produce and would directly compete with devices that currently retail for $12,000. So I could sell my device for...$500...and seem radically economical while quietly being radically profitable to me. Instead, I want to sell it for $25. That is how you "change everything."
Here's the rub: I've done everything I can on the project without other's help. What I mean by that is I built the crude prototype and proved to my superiors it worked. I developed the cost estimates and proved they are reasonable. But going from benchtop Quasimodo to commercialized Ryan Gosling requires other engineers start helping me. And from that, I give you Waller's Law of Engineering:
Good * (Mechanical Engineer + Electrical Engineer + Software Engineer) = ANYTHING
In narrative form: if you combine a good mechanical engineer with a good electrical engineer with a good software engineer and give them a scientifically plausible goal...they can make just about anything.
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Here's the rub: I've done everything I can on the project without other's help. What I mean by that is I built the crude prototype and proved to my superiors it worked. I developed the cost estimates and proved they are reasonable. But going from benchtop Quasimodo to commercialized Ryan Gosling requires other engineers start helping me. And from that, I give you Waller's Law of Engineering:
Good * (Mechanical Engineer + Electrical Engineer + Software Engineer) = ANYTHING
In narrative form: if you combine a good mechanical engineer with a good electrical engineer with a good software engineer and give them a scientifically plausible goal...they can make just about anything.
_
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