3 Things

Executives Value Most

in a Mechanical Engineer
Career Advice for Ambitious CAD Users
Seeking Their Next Raise or Promotion
Table of Contents

page 03 Are You a Clock Watcher?

page 05 The Engineer as Unsung Hero

page 06 Section1 Career Advice: How to Make Your Boss Love You

page 07 Think Outside Your Cubicle: Design & Manufacturing Processes

page 10 Rethink Your Product: Incremental Innovation

page 13 Think Inside The Box: User Experience

page 15 Section 2 Executives Speak: What I Look For in an Engineer

page 16 David Wajsgras, Raytheon

page 18 Scott Crump, Stratasys

page 20 Alex Kubicek, Understory, Inc.

page 22 John McEleney, Onshape

page 24 Rick Fulop, Desktop Metal

page 25 A Tough Question for CEOs

page 26 Full-Cloud CAD Delivers Startup Agility to Companies of All Sizes

Are You a
Clock Watcher?

In the classic Looney Tunes cartoon series,

Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, the wolf
spends his day feverishly trying to steal
sheep, while the dog pounces on him and
inflicts brutal punishment.

This pattern repeats itself throughout the

day, until the whistle blows at 5 p.m. and both
parties rush to the punch clock and sign off
from their shifts. The hostilities promptly
end, they amicably call each other Ralph
and Sam, and then commiserate about their
work day.

It doesnt matter which task they are in the

middle of, or if they are close to achieving a
mission-critical goal. At 5 p.m., its time to
check out, period.

Like many professions, the product design

world is filled with Ralphs and Sams (or
Samanthas), employees who stare at their
phones and count down the seconds until
they can dart to the parking lot. Even if the
attitude isnt a conscious one, many engineers
are focused on What can I do to quickly finish
my tasks? versus the broader question of
What can I do to help my company achieve
its overall goals?

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 3

Are You a If youve been a loyal employee at a profitable
company, and are spinning your wheels, you might
Clock Watcher? be curious why you may have never gotten more
than an occasional cost-of-living raise over the
years. You might wonder why youve watched
people who joined the company after you rise
through the ranks while you stand still.

Just showing up to work everyday and doing a

good job likely isnt enough to put you on the fast
track for career advancement. You were hired to do
that. In this eBook, we will share ways how you can
start thinking on the same wavelength as your boss
and get on his or her radar. Well explore how you,
as a mechanical engineer, are uniquely suited
perhaps more than any other role in the company
to make your employer more successful. And
well hear from top executives revealing what they
value most in an engineer.

Although we cant guarantee reading this eBook

will score you an instant raise, we are betting that
adopting this advice will push you in the right
direction!

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 4

The Engineer No matter where you went to school, what you get paid or whether
you work at a startup or a multinational corporation, you as
as Unsung Hero an engineer are uniquely positioned to impact your companys
success more than any other job role.

The folks in accounting are smart people. But they likely dont know
how your raw materials are cut or handled. You can trust your life
with the people on the shop floor when it comes to manufacturing,
but they probably arent always in the loop upstairs, where they
are tracking sales and worrying about inventory.

But the engineer floats between all these different worlds. He

or she often serves as a bridge between design, manufacturing,
sales and operations. Engineers often have a broader, big-picture
view of what goes on in every corner of their company and are
in a better position to identify areas for improvement and offer
solutions.

So now that you have the power to potentially change

the direction of your company, what are you going to
do with it?

Ive said this my whole life: Engineers

change the world, and the rest of us are
overhead. People in the engineering
discipline have an opportunity to do truly
great, game-changing things with their
careers, and thats the way they ought to
approach it!

Dave Wajsgras, president of

Raytheons Intelligence, Information
and Services (IIS) business.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 5

 Section 1

Career Advice:
How to Make Your Boss Love You

Think Outside Your Cubicle:

Design & Manufacturing Processes

Rethink Your Product:

Incremental Innovation

Think Inside The Box:

User Experience

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 6

Tip #1
Think Outside
Your Cubicle:
Design & Manufacturing
Processes

The designs that an engineer works on at his or her desk are

actually only a small portion of the overall life cycle of a product.
However, engineers are the heart of product development and
have the ability to influence everything from conceptual design
to manufacturing, marketing and even post-sales support. Look
outside your cubicle. Beyond your individual tasks, start thinking
about where the bottlenecks are and could potentially be
throughout the process.

The beauty of this approach is that you dont need to come

up with your industrys next blockbuster product to make your
company more successful. Even the most incremental savings
of time and materials adds up.

For example, imagine having the ability to take your part design
two steps ahead to think about manufacturing and assembly. You
might experiment using snap fits as a replacement for fasteners.
This would make assemblies quicker because there are fewer
parts to attach and fewer parts to manufacture or order.

Many people think of this kind of change at a later stage of

product development rather than earlier in the design phase.
Thinking ahead saves needless redesign later.

You may also notice areas in your company where you can
leverage 3D CAD outside of core design to save time across your
entire organization.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 7

Tip #1 These scenarios may include:

Speeding up jig and fixture design

Think Outside Teaming up with sales reps to impress prospects with on-
Your Cubicle: the-fly design changes, or
Design & Manufacturing Using 3D models and rendered images in marketing
Processes materials.

Its not only your companys products that need

to be constantly re-evaluated for improvements.
Design and manufacturing processes should be
optimized for continual improvements, too.

The bigger your company and the more complicated your

processes are, the more likely youll find bottlenecks to
overcome. And you will be seen by your boss and by your team
as a valuable player who can deliver in many situations.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 8

Be the Andrew Miller of Engineering

Even if you are not a baseball

fan, you have to be impressed
by the Andrew Miller story. For
decades, the closer was used
only to finish off the 9th inning. It
made sense to bring in your most
dominant relief pitcher to shut
down the opposition. Pitching in
the middle innings of a game has
traditionally been a thankless
job, with the starters and closers
getting most of the glory.

So, during the 2016 American

League playoffs when Cleveland
Indians manager Terry Francona
used his best reliever early
in game situations, he was
considered a heretic. The Indians
made a huge mid-season trade to
get Miller only to waste him in a
non-Save situation?

Turns out that Franconas strategy was brilliant. Choosing to use

his best pitcher at the moment he was needed most, he recognized
the truth that if the other team scores too many runs in the 5th or
6th inning, the 9th inning will be irrelevant. Miller turned out to be
the MVP of the series.

Pitchers work hard to become closers and rarely voluntarily give up

their status. Millers willingness to expand and redefine his role for
the sake of his team even though it might have been considered a
demotion by others was one of the key reasons that the underdog
Indians reached the 7th game of the World Series.

Maybe by taking on new tasks and challenges that arent in your

job description, you could be the Andrew Miller of your company.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 9

Tip #2
Rethink Your
Product:
Incremental Innovation

What separates your product from a commodity? What are the

special or exclusive qualities that you deliver so your company is
not merely competing on price?

Have you ever met an artist, writer or filmmaker who is the

harshest critic of his or her own work? No matter how successful
they are, they are never satisfied. They are always wondering
what they could have done better. Thats the same quality your
CEO is looking for in an engineer, someone whose mission is to
never settle for the status quo, to always press for improvements.
Of course, changes should never be made for the sake of making
changes. Before adding a third or fourth cup holder to a baby
stroller, for example, it makes sense to pause and ask who will be
doing the drinking.

Not every innovator is going to give birth to the next iPhone or

hydrogen-powered car. Think about British entrepreneur and
industrial designer James Dyson, who reinvented one of the most
utilitarian household appliances, the vacuum cleaner.

Frustrated with the diminishing suction power of his conventional

vacuum, Dyson was inspired by observing an industrial cyclone
thats used by sawmills to suck sawdust from the air. According
to the BBC, it took the inventor more than 5,000 design changes
over five years to perfect the motor to create a cyclone-like
suction inside a vacuum.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 10

Tip #2 Not to mention that Dyson vacuums look like modern art pieces
compared to their drab-but-functional ancestors. The same

Rethink Your compliment could be applied to the companys sleek, next-

generation hand dryer, the Airblade, which is now ubiquitous at
Product: restaurants, movie theaters and public restrooms.
Incremental Innovation

The most important thing you need when redesigning

something is perseverance and a willingness to fail, Dyson
told the BBC. Inventors rarely have those hallowed Eureka!
moments. Developing an idea and making it work takes time
and patience. (Our) engineers are constantly testing different
ways of working and we fail every day. Failure is the best
medicine as long as you learn something.

As Dyson notes, product innovation is more often incremental

than not. Rather than creating new categories Harvard Business
Review notes that 75 percent of new consumer products fail
incremental improvements on your existing products might
include incorporating new materials (stronger, lighter, cheaper,
etc.), adding touch screens or making your product a connected
device in the ever-growing Internet of Things.

Whatever the opportunity that presents itself to

improve your designs, remember that your CEO
wants someone who comes in with an idea, not
someone who waits to be assigned an idea.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 11

Squeezing a Solution for
a Non-Existent Problem

In 2017, the startup company Juicero went

from being a Silicon Valley darling to a social
media laughingstock after it was revealed that
its $400 Internet-connected juice machine - Forbes, Apr 21, 2017
wasnt an upgrade over the human hand
squeezing an orange.

The over-engineered device, which included Worthless $700 Juicero

400 custom parts and delivered 4 tons of Out of Juice
force, was designed to squeeze Juicero- - Mens Health, Jul 20, 2017
branded packets of chopped organic fruit and
vegetables. The company targeted restaurants
and health food enthusiasts.
Juicero Offering Refunds to All
Customers After People Realize
The companys fortunes crashed after a $400 Juicer is Totally Unnecessary
Bloomberg reporter discovered that he could - The Verge, Apr 20, 2017
squeeze Juiceros proprietary fruit packets
with his hand and extract the same volume of
juice in less time. The day after the Bloomberg
story ran, Juicero offered a full refund to all its JUICERO USERS FIND THAT
customers. MAN TRUMPS MACHINE
- Tech Crunch, Apr , 2017
Juicero, which shut down in September 2017,
remains a cautionary tale for all product
designer. Successful innovation is not about
creating solutions in search of a problem.
Juicing Boss Defends
$400 Machine
- BBC, Apr 21, 2017

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 12

Tip #3
Think Inside
the Box:
User Experience

Have you ever tried to take a toy out of the package for your
child and been frustrated by the number of wires you need to
untwist to free it from bondage? Have you ever tried to put
together easy-to-assemble furniture and found a drill hole
thats not lined up correctly?

Both those scenarios are examples of an unpleasant user

experience. On the flipside, think about whats it like to open
any Apple product. The box is sturdy, yet stylish. The plastic
trays and scratch guards seem too nice to throw away. If you
bought it at the Apple Store, even the bag looks cool. One
glance at the packaging (and even the power cord) conveys
the same positive feeling you get when you use the product.

Nest has the same reputation for its smart thermostat

packaging. So much so that UX Magazine has praised the
way the company seals its boxes with pull tabs to remove the
adhesive (requiring no knives or keys to slice it open).

Large companies such as DEWALT Tools and LEGO have

entire departments devoted to user experience, but most
small companies dont have a position specially dedicated
to this purpose. By default, you are the User Experience
Department.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 13

Tip #3 A slam dunk way to stand out at your company is to fill this void
and think about how customers will use the products you design.
Think Inside What will their first impression be when they open the box?
How easy to understand is the users manual, documentation or
the Box: directions?
User Experience
If you dont have the resources to build a user community, spend
some quality time chatting with your best customers. How do
they FEEL when they are using your product? Does that match
your companys intentions? What do they think would improve
their experience?

Even if your company has a UX team, it doesnt hurt to exercise

your voice here.

You pour your heart and guts into creating the

product; its only natural that you care about what
happens next.

E=MC2 A+B=C

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 14

 Section 2

Executives Speak:
What I Look For in an Engineer

Dave Wajsgras, Raytheon

Scott Crump, Stratasys
Alex Kubicek , Understory, Inc.
John McEleney, Onshape
Ric Fulop, Desktop Metal

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 15

Executives Speak
Dave Wajsgras is a Raytheon
Company vice president and
president of the Intelligence,
Information and Services (IIS)
business. With 2016 sales
of $24 billion and 63,000
employees, Raytheon is a
technology and innovation
leader specializing in defense
and security solutions for
the U.S. DoD, intelligence
community, civil agencies and
international allies. IIS has core
expertise in analytics, cyber
and automation for critical
applications that support
national security objectives
in space, C5ISR, air traffic
management and navigation,
high consequence training, as
well as national-scale cyber
solutions.
3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Dave Wajsgras:
Dont Try to Fake It Till You
Make It
One of the most vital qualities we look for in an employee
is integrity. I use this term broadly and it goes far beyond
engineering but what I mean is dont try to fake it.
Just because you have deep domain expertise in mechanical
engineering, doesnt mean you have the same level of expertise
in electrical engineering or software engineering. Even though
you might know a little bit about other areas, its important
to be realistic with yourself and with your team about what
youre an expert at and what you are not. It doesnt mean you
cant weigh in. It doesnt mean you cant have an opinion. But
I think companies or organizations run into problems when
they rely too much on people who are providing input that is
not necessarily in their area of expertise.
I think its incumbent on individuals to be honest about the
information or guidance that they are conveying. As long as
they do that appropriately, everyone wins and you will usually
arrive at the best solutions.
Integrity with your colleagues means not being afraid to ask
questions. Its not a weakness to say I dont know. Its a
strength and shows an enormous amount of self-confidence.
Although your experience and knowledge may have some
overlap with different silos, you need to be thoughtful about
how you communicate technical solutions, how you frame
suggestions, and make sure you separate fact from opinion.
I think thats critically important.
16
Executives Speak

Dave Wajsgras:
Dont Try to Fake It Till You
Make It

Along those same lines, I also value engineers who are

passionate about learning and ask genuine questions about
how their piece of the puzzle fits into the broader deliverable.
Its refreshing when I hear that and it always makes those
people stand out for me. Candidly, I wish I heard this all the
time from younger and mid-level engineers. But frankly, I
dont hear it as often as I would like.

So at Raytheon, that would mean asking: How will this

particular solution be used at the mission level? What will
the Warfighter be doing with this particular capability? And
when you work from the tail end backwards, you really see
how your deliverable works into the bigger picture. I think
this motivates people from both an effort standpoint and a
quality-of-delivery standpoint.

If youre an engineer who wants to move up into either a

technical management role or a nontechnical management
role, one of the best ways to do that is to understand that
broader picture as early as possible. Of course, youre still
expected to deliver on your specific objectives. But making
an effort to expand your knowledge base lets senior
management know that youre able to think beyond your
individual role and focus on the companys needs as a whole.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 17

Executives Speak
Scott Crump is the co-founder
and former CEO of Stratasys,
a leading global provider
of 3D printing and additive
manufacturing solutions.
He is the inventor of Fused
Deposition Modeling (FDM)
technology, the basis for 3D
printers.
3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Scott Crump:
Be Willing to Embrace
Crazy Ideas and Fail Fast
A huge red flag for us is an engineer who cant admit to
mistakes either his or her mistake or the teams mistake.
Because thats all we do. We do iterations. You can call them
whatever youd like, but engineering is all about improving on
what you just created the moment before.
Iteration failure is not really a failure. Its just something that
didnt work and then you try something else that might. The
important thing is to fail fast. In our R & D department, which
we call Skunkworks, we have an environment where there
are no rules. I guess if you press me, theres an unspoken rule
to not burn the place down. But everything else (within the
law) is fair game.
We start with someone proposing a new idea. What do we
want to accomplish? This first brainstorming idea is usually
not the one that is optimal or in the center of the target. But
it becomes our first challenge. Our team might be two people
or it might be 10 people, but it seldom gets larger than that.
Some of these ideas sound crazy, but we all have to accept
that the crazy idea might be possible. Because if its truly a
disruptor, its going to be something thats different.
In this business, you have to be willing to go through a high
amount of iterations that dont go anywhere. Its paying your
dues to get to the one crazy idea that does pay off.
18
Executives Speak

Scott Crump:
Be Willing to Embrace
Crazy Ideas and Fail Fast

At Stratasys Skunkworks and its Engineering Group, we

recently launched an Infinite Build system. Working with the
R&D department at Ford, we had the challenge of figuring
out how to 3D print large panels for cars. Lets say you could
print a car or truck hood in a day, versus the current 10 days
it takes with conventional methods. And so we came up with
the idea of building stalactites, where youre either pushing a
stalagmite up or a stalactite down. We tried printing a panel
at 66 degrees, and then trying it at 45 and then 20 degrees.
And then the team finally came up with the idea of building it
on the horizontal.

Lets say you want a 50-millimeter thick, 150-foot long panel

we can print that now. Just as the infinite name implies, you
could keep building the part as long as you want. It took a lot
of effort and a lot of iterations for Skunkworks and then our
Engineering Group to get this continuous build system to the
point where its 99.4% reliable in a package that customers
can use and afford. And over time, Im sure well continue to
drive performance up and cost down.

We havent fully tested the Infinite yet when we do, wed

expect to face the challenge of the curvature of the earth. Ha!

But as with the birth of most other disruptive technologies,

our success was built on the backs of many failures and a lot
of great teamwork.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 19

Executives Speak
Alex Kubicek is a co-founder
of Understory, Inc., a ground-
truth weather hardware and
analytics company serving
the insurance and agriculture
industries, utility companies
and academic research.
While traditional radar-based
weather centers collect data
by analyzing conditions
observed in the atmosphere,
Understorys ground-based
weather networks detect
weather events that are
actually occurring at ground-
level, providing companies
with real-time insights and
earlier detection of risks.
3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Alex Kubicek:
We Value Relentless
Adaptability and Cross-
Departmental Collaboration
We recently had a thunderstorm roll through the area and I
shot a video of our lead mechanical engineer standing in the
pouring rain trying to capture rain data as it was happening.
That one image sums up what we do here. When we hire
someone, were looking for something we call relentless
adaptability.
Our team is constantly evaluating problems, coming up with
potential solutions, testing out said solutions, and applying
what weve learned from those trials to move forward.
An excellent example of this is how we refined our rain
capture feature. We regularly deploy weather stations out in
the field to test our rain capture ability. In one area, we were
getting some strange readings of pouring rain every single
night from 6 to 8 p.m. This data didnt make sense when
compared to other nearby reference stations, which reported
no rain at all.
Through some investigation, we discovered that there was a
species of insect that was putting out its mating call at that
time and it just happened to be at the same frequency we
were picking up and categorizing as indicative of rain in our
weather stations.
20
Executives Speak

Alex Kubicek:
We Value Relentless Adaptability and
Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Our engineering team was able to capture the raw data and
characterize it for our data science team. With both teams
working together, our data scientists were able to isolate that
signal quickly and literally remove a bug from our system!
So we need people who can deal with the unexpected,
rapidly diagnose a problem, figure out what to do, and then
implement the solution as quickly as possible.

Our engineers have a broad view of whats happening across

the company, and often they help our data scientists look
at problems through a different lens. So cross-collaboration
across departments is critical here.

We expect our people to not only pay attention to their tasks,

but to also understand the companys goals and to know how
their roles contribute to reaching those goals. Whether you
are one out of ten people or one out of a hundred people, a
single engineer can have an enormous impact on a business.

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 21

Executives Speak
John McEleney is a co-founder
of Onshape, the first full-cloud
CAD company to enable design
teams to collaborate in real
time on any computer, phone
or tablet. His 30-plus years of
experience in the mechanical
design/software industry
also includes being CEO of
SOLIDWORKS and CEO of
CloudSwitch, a cloud enterprise
software company acquired by
Verizon.
3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
John McEleney:
Stop Worrying About Your
Job Title and Ask For More
Responsibility Instead
When engineers start talking about job titles, it always drives
me crazy. I think people should be less focused on their title
and more focused on what theyre really doing. And Im not
saying you should sit in the engine room and be quiet.
If youre a mechanical engineer, and you want to learn more
about software, then raise your hand and say, I want to learn
more about software because I realize its a huge part of how
the worlds going to move forward.
You can better position yourself by working on projects
that may include this component or by finding colleagues
working on software and let it be known that you want to
learn more. Find ways to offer your assistance. Be available
nights, weekends, whatever it takes.
Let it be known that you want to take on more responsibility.
When people ask you for help, the answer is yes. However, if
you dont know how to do it, be transparent. Say, Hey, Im not
really sure, but I know I can learn. Try and position yourself
to become who you want to be.
In my view, the busy people at your company will always be
busy, and theyll only get busier. Why? Because people want
to lean on people who can get stuff done. Asking how you can
learn new skills is a lot more constructive than saying I want
to be the project manager or I need to make more money.
22
Executives Speak

John McEleney:
Stop Worrying About Your Job Title and
Ask For More Responsibility Instead

On that note, dont ever say, I want to do this, or Im going

to leave the company. I cant stand when people give me
ultimatums. Typically, Ill open the door for them to leave if
they want to leave. Making threats and demands isnt helpful.

If you genuinely feel that youre being underpaid, its important

to raise that with your manager, but not in a way that says
you need to get paid more or youre going to quit. You cant
build relationships and trust with threats.

Ive never asked for a promotion in my life. Ask how you

can expand your current role and responsibilities at your
company. Keep raising your hand to learn new skills and take
on new challenges. Focus on those more than your job title,
and the promotions will follow.

What Would Archimedes Think About Todays

Design and Manufacturing World?
Inspiring engineers for generations to come, Archimedes
once said, Give me a lever, a place to stand, and I will
move the earth. Find out why the 3rd Century visionary
remains on Onshape co-founder John McEleneys mind.

READ THE BLOG

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 23

Executives Speak
Ric Fulop is the CEO and
co-founder of Desktop Metal,
a company committed to
accelerating the transformation
of manufacturing with
end-to-end metal 3D printing
solutions. Founded in 2015
by leaders in advanced
manufacturing, materials
science, and robotics, the
company is addressing the
unmet challenges of speed,
cost, and quality to make metal
3D printing an essential tool for
engineers and manufacturers
around the world.
3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Ric Fulop:
Be Willing to Try New Tools
and New Technologies
At Desktop Metal, were looking for engineers who are
creative, thoughtful, and who arent afraid to make a dent in
the world. Our company is changing the way products get
made. Current metal 3D printing technology is too expensive
and industrial for prototyping and its not fast or cost-
effective enough for mass production. We want to make the
best tools in the world for metal 3D printing, and so naturally
we expect that our team will always be seeking out new tools
and technologies to break the mold.
You cant be afraid of changing your tools or processes. Just
because youve been doing something the same way for
years is not a good enough reason to keep doing it that way
forever. Thats not how you innovate.
Im also looking for engineers who have an interdisciplinary
view. Most hardware products in the future will have some
type of software or electronic components. More and more
devices have sensors and are connected to the Internet of
Things. As the hardware and software worlds continue to
move closer together, its all the more important that we have
people who are able and eager to collaborate.
As more design and manufacturing teams get distributed
across multiple locations around the world, being able to
communicate and work together efficiently becomes an
even more critical part of a companys success. No matter
how talented an engineer may be, he or she cannot think like
a lone wolf.
24
A Tough Question for CEOs
As the title of this book makes clear, weve spent most of these pages focused
on the executives perspective. But that approach begs the question: What is the
leadership team doing to promote innovation?

At a startup, there may be no need to ask this. In the early stages, everyone
shares a small office and getting the ear of your boss might be as easy as
stretching your neck over your cubicle.

At larger companies, where there is not a one-to-one reporting structure

and teams are spread across multiple locations, there may be a continuous
improvement or innovation committee to review new ideas.

What are you doing to crowdsource the best ideas at your

company? If your engineers arent already thinking beyond
their individual tasks, why arent they stepping up?

3 THINGS EXECUTIVES VALUE MOST IN A MECHANICAL ENGINEER 25

 FULL-CLOUD CAD DELIVERS STARTUP
AGILITY TO COMPANIES OF ALL SIZES
Agile product designers care about speed and innovation.

Speed is not important for its own sake. Its about cutting out invisible time-wasters and
creating time to breathe and explore alternative design ideas time to be more innovative.

Innovation is not a pithy marketing buzzword. Its about differentiating your products or
services from the competition, giving your customers compelling reasons to choose you
besides price.

Onshape, the only CAD system with a full-cloud database architecture, delivers both.

Onshape is built for teams. Its Real-Time Data Management means that any design change
made by anyone, anywhere is instantly seen by everyone, everywhere.

Unique simultaneous editing means no worries about overwriting each others changes or finding
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