Architecture – High Technology Business Development

Coupling & Crosstalk is my column in the MEPTEC Report. This column appears in the Fall 2018 edition on pages 8-9.

Electronic coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit or medium to another. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes not (crosstalk). I hope that this column, by mixing technology and general observations, is thought provoking and “couples” with your thinking. Most of the time I will stick to technology but occasional crosstalk diversions may deliver a message closer to home.

Milking It!

I observed recently two different companies “milking” their businesses for good and for ill. With the proper perspective, consumers can see how well an organization manages and cares for their products – tangible goods and services. Not just in the headline news which may be indicative outliers (airline mistreatment of passengers, anyone?) but in everyday interactions and purchases.

What does milking a business – be it cows or dishwashers – have to do with high technology? Continue reading “Coupling & Crosstalk: Milking It!”

Can a project that is three years late after fourteen years in the making and costing $23.5 M instead of the $3 M originally budgeted be a success?

With numbers like this one would guess it was a “public works” project. Not quite a “bridge to nowhere” but more like a bridge that is somewhere… It is a small bridge that pales in comparison to the size and scope of the new $5.5 B East Span of the Bay Bridge (currently scheduled for completion in 2013). And unlike replacing the East Span, one could argue about the necessity of building this pedestrian and bicycle bridge in the first place.

Having visited the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay which crosses the Sacramento River in Redding, California last week and read some of the criticisms of the bridge, it made me stop and think “What are the true measures of success?”

Continue reading “The Worthwhile Cost of Customer Satisfaction – Building “Bridges to Nowhere”…”