Dave Foster

CSIA

The latest ‘hot topic’ from Patti Engineering that I wanted to make sure gets out is our recent trip to the CSIA Executive Conference (we have been attending these since 1996!). This is an exceptionally valuable opportunity for the management here at Patti to step out of our day-to-day responsibilities and get a “30,000 foot view” of where we are and where we are heading (and compare that to all of our peers in attendance – 200+ of them).

I invite you to check out the CSIA (Control Systems Integrators Association – http://www.controlsys.org) website to learn more about this valuable organization and its certification program (we’ve been certified for over 6 years now!).

At this year’s conference we had a multiude of seminar topics to select from (on top of the great peer and vendor networking opportunities). Here are a few valuable topics that I would like to share:

- The Future is Your Decision: by Economist Alan Beaulieu ( www.ecotrends.org)
While he certainly had an in-depth message using ‘lots’ of information to backup his claims, in summary he highlighted that while we are certainly showing signs of bottoming out in our economic free-fall, the bounce back up will not be nearly as abrupt as the dropoff was. We need to plan for a long and drawn out recovery. But, he certainly pointed out that the future is ALWAYS what you make of it. I believe his closing quotation said it best: ‘”It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires”- Charles De Montesquieu’

- Net Promoter Score: by Glenn Graney ( www.gefanuc.com)
This seminar presented insight into the ultimate question, “How likely is it that you would recommend (us) to a friend or colleague?”. This would be answered on a sliding scale of 0-10. The great thing about this survey is that it is comprised of just one question, making the likelihood of getting a response significantly better than providing an entire list of them. The measurable provided by this question is the Net Promoter Score. This score gives you insight into how strong of a relationship you truly have with your customers. It is derived by taking the percentage of your promoters (9-10 on the scale) and subtracting out the percentage of your detractors (0-6 on the scale). The result (let’s sure hope it comes out positive) is your Net Promoter Score (the Neutrals are the 7-8 results that do not factor in – neither helping or hurting). Stay tuned for your survey request from us any day now (and I know that you all give at least 9s, right?)!

- The Multi-Generational Workplace:Integrated Leadership of Gen X,Y and Boomers: by Philippe Cesson ( www.cesson.com)
This was a great presentation on how different generations react and interact with each other. It gave insight into what motivates members of different generations and gave training techniques that are flexible enough to reach the unique needs of each generation. While I could not do justice to this presentation and its lesson in this small space, here are some great highlights on the generational differences:
♦ Veterans (prior to 1945) – “Work First!”
Appreciate their experience, value their input, respect their wisdom, offer excellent benefits, mentor programs, satisfying job responsibilities, ask for their advice, and thank them in writing.
♦ Boomers (1945 to 1960-64) – “Live to Work!”
Want to know they are valued and needed, show them respect for their skills, knowledge, and potential, identify flexible goals and guidelines, offer flexible scheduling, mentor programs, benefits, technology training and relocation to exciting places (work where they retire).
♦ Generation X (1961 to 1978-1981) - “Work to Live!”
Freedom to complete tasks at own discretion, while following guidelines, growth opportunities, increased responsibility, praise for jobs well done, don’t sugarcoat information,  offer 9-5’s and respect their time off, reward with training and increased responsibility, let them have fun at work, increase earning potential and promote a healthy work/life balance.
♦ Generation Y (1980+) – “Live, and then Work!”
Must have access to technology, teamwork environment, jobs that allow them to multi-task, want to be respected for their level of education, need freedom and flexible work schedules, tasks must be challenging and rewarding, they need structure, supervision,  immediate gratification, and feedback. In addition, they must get along with their manager and feel as though that person is enabling them to grow. They need to know they have the opportunity to learn more and be consulted with in making decisions.

- Time Management & Personal Leadership – Steve McClatchy ( www.alleer.com)
On the surface this seemed like just another presentation on how not to be wasteful with your time, and lord knows that we have all been through plenty of those. But, pleasantly this one was different. Like all good messages, its message was simple: Which of your activities produce the greatest results? This question requires you to look at your ‘tasks’ as ones that produce gain, and ones that prevent pain. Here are some pointers to help discriminate between the two:
– GAIN Activities                                    – Prevent PAIN Activities
♦ Never Urgent                                          ♦ Eventually Become Urgent
♦ Don’t “Have To” Do Them                      ♦ “Have To” Do Them
♦ Produce Significant Results                   ♦ Just Keep You Where You Are
♦ They Keep You Balanced                      ♦ They Can Burn You Out
♦ You Can’t Delegate “Gain” Tasks          ♦ You Can Delegate Them

Now that you have categorized your activities, you can put together your list. And like any good list, it should be prioritized. But unlike ‘to do’ lists of the past, this list should not be prioritized by due date, but by the value of the results of the action. So, using that theory, you can see how all of the ‘gain’ activities are ‘A’ (tops) on our list, and the ‘prevent pain’ activites are relegated to the ‘B’s and ‘C’s. This is an important distinction. Prioritizing your list this way will allow you to get the most ‘value’ out of your time. This session also focused on keeping the list creation time to only 5 minutes of your day. That way you can’t use the excuse that you don’t have enough ‘time’ to make the list!

And now for the fun part of the post…

At every CSIA conference Saturday afternoon is left open for a fun activity of your choosing. Most of the attendees choose the group coordinated activity of golf. However, Ken (our VP of Operations) and I prefer to choose something more adventurous and sample a true flavor of the location we are in. In 1998 we were in Phoenix, there we joined a Hummer excursion through the desert, from a river bed to the top of mountain. In 2004 we were in Palm Desert, there we took a tram 8000 feet straight up the side of a mountain (it was 105 degrees at the bottom and 55 degrees at the top). At a few of the conferences we have rented boats for self-directed water adventures (we even took a pontoon boat out into the Atlantic in Savannah, GA). That was the case at the most recent conference. This year it was in Naples, FL. So naturally, we had to check out the intra-coastal waterway! Here is our adventure crusing in a rented 19′ deckboat from Naples to Marco Island via the intra-coastal…

We started at Extreme Rentals in Naples.

It is a about an hour long cruise along some very contrasting shoreline.
You start out with multi-million dollar homes.

And end up crusing along mangrove covered wilderness with the occassional manatee encounter.

All to end up at the tip of a little island called Keewaydin.

There we found almost a hundred boats beached and anchored for some serious fun in the Florida sun.

It was a great adventure, and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area

Thanks for your time. I hope you learned something worthwhile and enjoyed sharing in our annual trip to the CSIA conference.
Next year… Seattle. Gotta’ be something adventurous to do there, right?

Hello!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Let me begin by sharing my slow rolling start of off the line on my Patti Engineering blog. As an engineer, I initially was very reluctant to listen to the right side of my brain and acknowledge the value of sharing my experiences with the world. In a true moment of linear thinking, I did not see the ‘value add’ of this for myself, or for those willing to read it. But then I started to dig deeper into my own use of the internet. I quickly realized that I am somewhat of an internet voyeur. I enjoy learning more about others and sharing in their experiences. And yet, have lurked in the shadows when it was time to share my own. So…

“Hi. My name is Dave Foster. I am the Vice President of Engineering for Patti Engineering, and I am a recovering blog/facebook/twitter voyeur”. (This is the part where you all say “Hi, Dave. Welcome.”).

So, now that we have gotten that out of the way, I would like to share the format for my blog. For me this will be all about sharing a little of the ‘behind the scenes’ happenings at Patti Engineering, spiced up with a shared personal experience that I think everyone will enjoy. To start that personal touch, I am going to focus on my numerous experiences as a life-long boater. I have spent countless hours cruising the waters of the Caribbean as a youngster, and the waters of the Great Lakes as a grown man. I think there are some great experiences to share there.

In the end I hope that my stories will enlighten you to better understand what makes Patti Engineering such a fabulous company, and what wonderful ‘all natural’ experiences can be found in boating with your family and friends.