One of the biggest problems engineers encounter when sourcing products and services is simply finding the right person to call. If you need a 3M product, odds are your company is too small to deal directly with 3M, so they’re going to refer you to a distributor’s regional office. That office will probably take your call, but your local sales rep will surely be out in the field, and you won’t get to talk to him. Maybe you can wrestle an email or a cell number from the inside sales rep, if you’re aggressive, but that doesn’t describe most engineers.
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- By Ryan | Oct 1, 2009
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10. The Phone (see our post “10 Reasons Engineers Hate the Phone“)
9. Multiple Office Sites – As if things weren’t complicated enough, I have to try to communicate and solve complex issues over the phone and through NetMeeting, WebEx, and VNC? Maybe if I am especially lucky, I’ll get to travel back and forth for months at a time!
8. Executive speak – Nothing quite like a load of BS from the VP about how great everything is going. Or worse… when it’s quiet, you know it’s REALLY bad.
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- By Ryan | Sep 7, 2009
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Engineers do not like trying new things. This is a fact of life in any high-tech industry. Whether it is a new tool, new software, new design flow, new co-worker, or just a new place to eat lunch, engineers generally resist. Engineers thrive on the routine. However, change is a regular and necessary occurrence in the corporate world.
While mostly driven by management to maximize profit margins, change can be very uncomfortable and even unproductive for those working in the technical trenches. Although it may seem stubborn and counter-productive to try new software and tools, engineers have their reasons.
Now, if we all resisted change all the time, we as designers of course would not be able to improve and advance technology. Change is, without question, inevitably necessary to evolve our products. Below I discuss the four main reasons engineers resist change and what you must know to change their minds.
Where is your email address? Contacting industrial suppliers sucks!