My first encounter with change

 It's now 2009. I have 4 years of experience out of school and I am suddenly faced with the responsibility of leading and managing 60% of the real estate of 64-bit Blackfin DSP Processor. A few months earlier, in late 2008, a reorganization had occurred among senior leaders. High-stakes discussions were being held. I am suddenly involved in meetings with senior people. We are talking about how to deliver more products faster and how to reduce costs. I can see a change coming: cultural and strategic.

 The group was used to a certain model of operation where we customized every ounce of development and operations for the best possible premium and niche product. This meant detailed work with customized in-house systems that required continuous revisions to extract every last bit of performance in a particular product. And this implied a particular approach to development and engineering that required patience, and knowledge of rarefied techniques that had taken years to seep into everyone's core. It required a hiring culture that looked for a labor force that could handle deep expertise in multiple subjects including the willingness to wear multiple hats all at once. Moving towards fast, and high throughout product delivery required a radically different approach to hiring, development, and product management that was anathema to most people in the group.

 It was a strategic market shift to now focus on low cost products, delivered at high volume for improved margins. Roles would have to be changed, new systems (EDA - Design Automation) would have to be introduced and attitudes towards design and product development would need to be shifted: perfection could not be allowed to become the enemy of good. Change would be required everywhere. In my mind, I could see that I was facing two choices: continue to work according to how I was nurtured and aligned with all the hard work that I put in or embrace this change that right now feels like going into an unknown chasm. I chose the latter. 

 Staying true to my earlier approach, I once again adopted a driven attitude filled with positivity. I channeled more time with new leadership. I was determined to actively listen and understand their core principles. I wanted to not just understand what they stated at face value, but what they really implied strategically. I wanted to solve their current problems, but also create an environment that would generate outputs that anticipated their intent, thus creating lasting solutions.

 I focused on the development speed issue. If we stopped building in-house tools and systems that required lots of maintenance, but rather leveraged 3rd party EDA software, we could initiate development earlier and validate products faster. We could also save time on general maintenance, prepping and refining the "machinery" (development flow) that managed the stages through with any product passed. And we could use the built-in quality assurance features that came with those 3rd party softwares to verify designs.

 I asked around our broader company, and specifically targeted business units that developed low cost, high volume products. We were based in Norwood, MA and our sister site in Wilmington, MA, barely 40 miles away had quite a few of those. I traveled to Wilmington, met several people in development, but also folks in charge of negotiating licenses for 3rd party software. I understood the range of options we could have at our disposal. I brought back as much of that knowledge to the group.

I experimented on a previously designed product. We had to start somewhere to start the learning curve. I realized we could initiate development and close out that design in about 10-15% less time. On an entirely new product, the gains would surely be larger. By the end of 2009, and I was starting new product designs with this more efficient model - RTL code and Synthesis Tools rather than In-House Human Pseudo-architectural code and raw schematic design of large digital units.

 This short period in my early career was a time of incredible change and growth. In the fast paced world of high-tech semiconductors, the only constant really is change. And in order to succeed, and enable your company to succeed, embracing change, being open-minded about new ideas and possibilities is key to unlocking value for customers through better products, while keeping costs under control. But I also understood the value of being well versed in one’s overall company structure. There is much to learn from other organizations and people within the same company. Being open to bridging gaps and sharing knowledge can bring about exponential gains for one’s organization.