Standards & Philosophy - Part 2

Hi everyone!

We are talking about the philosophy behind standardization, specifically relating to CAD standards. 

In the last posting I identified the three big questions that have to be considered for each item in a CAD standard.

1. What SHOULD it look like?
2. Does item in the standard increase the overall value of the CAD design?
3. How do you minimize the enforcement aspect of the standard?

In this posting we are going to talk a little about the actual graphic portion of the standard.

What should it look like?

When considering the graphics of a standard I think that there is a hierarchy of importance that has to be considered.

The most important is accuracy.  If the information shown in the drawing is wrong what good is it? 

This might seem like a strange item to put at the to of the "What should it look like?" list.  However, I think that we can all agree that you would never try to build anything from an impressionist painting where the geometry and details are distorted. 

Despite any personal feelings about this particular artistic style many find it very visually appealing and interesting.  But, could you ever determine what the original subject of the painting actually looked like with a high degree of accuracy?

Next is readability.  If a drawing is not readable then it is of absolutely no use to anyone.

Why then would I want to send out a drawings where the font is so small you can't read the notes or dimensions.

Or perhaps the drawing is so cluttered with lines and notes that the details are lost because every line on the page has the same color and thickness.

Last is visual appeal.  I am not placing it last because is is not important.  Quite the contrary.  I think that visual appeal is important for many reasons. 

• Marketing to a potential client by showing them a previous project is much better when the drawings look good and you both know it.
• Things that are visually appealing tend to be more memorable, and increase retention of information.
• It conveys pride of ownership and attention to detail.

The only reason that this one comes in at the bottom of the list is because the other two items are directly related to the function of the drawing.  That function is to convey the information necessary to accomplish something.

If a drawing set is the most appealing and beautiful work of art, but is inaccurate or unreadable then it is really just wasted time and money.  In the long run, the person who actually has to meet the requirements of the design will have no clue what they are supposed to do.

Standards & Philosophy - Part 1

 

Welcome back everyone!

I took a little break from writing after CAD camp to spend time with my parents, who were in town for a few days, but I am ready to start up again.

I want to spend some time talking about CAD Standards from philosophy perspective.

Ask yourself why any company finally expends the time and money to develop a CAD standard.  There are of course many reasons, most of them started something like this.

• "Why can't we get this (insert graphic feature here) to look the same on all our drawings?"
• "What font are we supposed to use again?"
• "What color or layer am I supposed use for this thing?"

These are the type of questions that usually spark the move to develop a CAD standard document.  But the documentation is only the beginning.

The question of standardization generally takes on three parts.

• What SHOULD it look like?
• Does item in the standard increase the overall value of the CAD design?
• How do you minimize the enforcement aspect of the standard?

If the development of a standard is not coupled with discipline to follow it, and apparent value to the drafter, then it is only the beginning of additional problems.  Not the solution to old ones.

In the next posting on Thursday we can talk about these questions in more detail to see how to answer them.

DWF it to Save Time, Paper, and Hard Drive Space!

At CAD Camp I had a chance to talk with Heidi Hewett and a gentleman (I'll call him Ted), who was having a problem publishing archived sets. 

Here is Ted's problem in a nut shell.  

1. Ted and his company need to print out archived legacy projects from time to time so some of the page setups may not be up to current CAD Standards.
2. Archived projects are set up for obsolete plotters and therefore will not publish well without creation of a new named page setup.
3. Creating a named page setup, importing it into each file and layout to make sure that it works, is time consuming and tedious.
4. Sometimes people will just plot without checking to see if the sheets are configured properly.  This wastes valuable paper and time when things go wrong.

My suggestion was the increasingly valuable DWF (Drawing Web Format not Divorced White Female as was the joke at Autodesk University this year) file in conjunction with the Sheet Set Manager.

By creating a new Sheet Set and importing the legacy files you gain access to the very powerful publish to DWF command.  This command will publish the imported layouts to a single multi-page DWF using whatever the current page setup is.  But, it will replace the assigned printer/plotter with the "DWG to DWF.PC3" driver removing any problems with assigned but non-existent plotters.

With that accomplished the DWF file can be opened with the free Design Review software or viewer and reviewed to make sure that the file has plotted correctly. (Think about it as a mass "print preview" option.) 

If Ted is using Design Review and a sheet does not look correct then he can just remove it from the DWF file, fix the error, plot it to a single DWF, and insert it into the set in it's proper place.

With all errors fixed, and the set looking good ,Ted can just select the print option from the File menu in Design Review and choose from any current printer or plotter on the system including a PDF maker.  (PDF files printed from DWF seem to be much smaller as a rule for some reason.  So there is another advantage.)

When the process is done the DWF file can then be deleted if it is unwanted.  My suggestion would be to to place the DWF file in the archive with the cad files so that it can be printed again at a later date without repeating this whole process.

This is the process that we use in my office all the time because it help to catch those little printing errors that are always cropping up without having to waste paper and toner.

I hope that you have all enjoyed this little tip and found it useful.  If anyone has a question or topic that they would like me to cover just email me CADNation@gmail.com.  I am always looking for good topics and if I cannot get it into the blog I will still help you out if I can.

CAD Camp Seattle Was Total Success!

For those of you that follow along you know I normally do new postings on Mondays and Thursdays, but last Thursday was CAD Camp Seattle and I had the privilege of instructing.

There is something to be said for speaking to a room full of more than 150 die-hard CAD geeks. 

If you ever have the opportunity to do so, I suggest that you take it.  Nothing is quite as humbling as having someone ask a question that you cannot answer in a room full of experts and aspiring gurus.

My class was titled, "The Power of Sheet Sets Made So Simple, Even a Caveman Could Do It!" The title was cooked up by Matt "Wicked Cool" Murphy and most of the handout content came directly from Heidi Hewett's "Sheets Happen!" series.

If you have been following my blog then you know that I am a huge fan of the sheet set manager.  And judging by the reaction of the crowd there are some new fans out there now.

To catch up.  Check out my posting "Some Good Tools for Instant Productivity" Part 1 & Part 2.

Here is a link to some of the photos of the days event http://www.flickr.com/photos/dscohn/sets/72157603961603995/. 

I will be back in full force this Thursday with a new topic and hopefully some new fun.

Good and Great - Technology Accelerators

Welcome back everyone! I can't wait to talk about today's topic, Technology! That is right, the word that all geeks love and hold dear is the last segment of our current discussion.

Though we love this topic often we must convince someone higher in the pay scale that money and resources should be expended. To do that we must think about how to best apply the technology rather than relying on the, "This is so cool!" effect. Many managers and employers can only see the money and manpower expended when they hear those words.

Before we talk about upgrading or implementing we have to think about the question posed by the author of "Good to Great" on his web site JimCollins.com.

"Why is there so much hype and fear about new technologies, and what can you do to view new technologies with objective equanimity?" - JimCollins.com

Objective, that is the key word here. Discipline demands objectivity when the goal is greatness.

The lessons learned from the study were clear. Technology cannot catapult a company to greatness, it can only accelerate the rise or fall.

The companies from the "Good to Great" study that made the transition mastered the process of determining which technology would benefit them most and mesh with their hedgehog concept. If a technology does not mesh then there is no need to pursue it.

Lets look at the example of Walgreens Pharmacy and their application of technology.

Walgreens

In the late 1990's the technology boom was in full swing and Walgreens appeared to be behind the technology curve.

The Wallgreens approach to technology is all about adherence the hedgehog concept. The most convenient pharmacy experience possible.

• Fill your order online and pick it up at your local Wallgreens along with a gallon of milk and some toothpaste.
• Don't get out much? Then have it shipped to your house.
• Travel a lot? Not a problem. All Walgreens Pharmacies are linked together so you can get your prescriptions filled almost anywhere in the country.

Walgreens operates on a simple metric of profit per customer served. Which means efficiency, quality, and convenience all have to mesh. The right technologies not only make this possible but make it highly profitable. The wrong technology is the death by a thousand cuts from poor customer satisfaction.

Instead of leaping in to the fray Walgreens methodically built and tested the web technology and the interaction with the network of stores. Enhancing their already efficient system and adding to the performance based on profit per customer visit.

That is all well and good for Walgreens, but what does it mean for those of us in CAD, design, and engineering? It is an example of the judicious application of technology to the Hedgehog concept and the discipline to only introduce what helps our processes as a whole.

My company charges for time on a cost per hour basis, so the economic driver is productivity per man-hour expended.

In the company I work for, we have many clients from many industries, but all of them have some things in common.

So the tools that are most valuable to my company are the ones that ease the difficulty of working for multiple clients, with multiple standards, in multiple disciplines and capitalize on the common ground.

• All clients have drawing sets that need to be managed, so we implemented Sheet Set Manager by developing a master format that met our needs and then adapting it to each client as they come in. This adds approximately 2 hours to the initial client setup but saves us nearly ten hours in the actual lifecycle of the project, varying by project size.
• All clients have a CTB and specific Fonts that they use. A central location was created on our server for storage of these files and all machines are mapped to this location and given read access. Rarely do we have an issue where fonts do not load properly or the right CTB file is not present.
• All clients require that files be sent back to them at project completion. We use eTransmit on all client submittals to make sure that external reference files are gathered and pathed appropriately.
• Plotting takes a significant amount of time when the drawing sets become large. So we made sure each of our employees knows how and when to use the publish tools for plotting. Allowing more time for production and quality control.

In each case the technology tool was introduced for a specific purpose, in line with the idea of productivity per man-hour expended. If a technology is "cool" but does not enhance the overall productivity of the drafter, it is left behind.

I know for a fact that there are many companies out there that operate in a, "This is how we have always done it." mind set. In my opinion few thing are more dangerous than that.

I talk with clients every day who cannot seem to understand how the introduction of an efficiency, that will save them 10% or more on their time expended per project, is worth the few hours it might take myself or one of their team to implement it for everyone.

Like the principle of First Who which says, "The right people are a companies greatest asset." The principle of Technology Accelerators says, "The right technology is a companies most useful tool."

The wrong technology, or technology implemented for the wrong reason, is equivalent to a big whole that resources and money are shoveled into.

Good and Great - Culture of Discipline

Thanks to you all for checking out the next installment in our look at how to apply principles of greatness to the world of CAD and Design.  For anyone just joining the conversation you may want to review the previous "Good and Great" postings available in the archive.

As many of you know this is a look at the principals discussed in the book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins.  We have already discussed the first two main points

Disciplined People - Level 5 Leadership and First Who Then What

Disciplined Thought - Confront the Brutal Facts and The Hedgehog Concept

The next discipline is that of Disciplined Action.  And, the first principle is that of a Culture of Discipline.

Think of two employees, Jim and Sarah. 

Jim

Jim is  a 9-5 employee.  He shows up everyday on time and sees his job as a job.  He performs his duties well enough to maintain his current employment but has little ambition for himself or his team.  Jim isn't really interested in learning new software features or increasing efficiencies because the way he does his job has always been good enough.  That is exactly the problem..."good enough".

Sarah

Sarah is a 24 hour employee.  She shows up to work everyday on time and probably goes home at the same as Jim.  Not a workaholic but a person who cares about her craft, her skills, and her team.  The term "good enough" only passes her lips when the deadline has arrived and the client makes a last minute change, with no chance to postpone. 

When she goes home at night her mind thinks about what she could have done different or more efficient during the day.  Sarah knows that she has a responsibility as part of the team to be excellent.  Not, good enough.

I know what you are thinking.  That is not a culture of discipline, it is an example of a disciplined person using disciplined thoughts.  That is true to a point.  But the culture of your work environment is, at least in part, determined by the people that fill it.  Some practices that can only be regulated through tyrannical standards and policies would  simply handle themselves in a disciplined culture.

Here is a personal example.  In my current job I am responsible for training new employees.  One of the things that I always try to impress on them is a drawing shut down procedure.  It goes like this.

When the markups are finished and the printing is done they are to switch back over to paper space, if the are in a file with a title block, then zoom to the extents of boarder before saving.

That is it, and the reason is this.  The next time they have to go back into the drawing may be six hours or six months later.  If for some reason all  they have to go on is what the sheet looks like, then they will be able to see the sheet in the preview thumbnail that is created when a file is saved. 

Not to mention the fact that the next edit to be done will probably not be in the same location within the drawing as whatever they just changed.  The next time, when I open the drawing after them, I can simply zoom in on the area of interest and go to work without having to do several additional steps.  This can save anywhere from several seconds per time a drawing is opened to several minutes if you happen to have big files and a slower computer.  Even if it is only few seconds per drawing.  How many times do you open drawings in a day?  10?  15? 100?  Lets say I open 15 drawings per day, (An unrealistically small number but then we are just talking here.)  and it saves me 5 seconds per occurrence, or 1 minute 15 seconds a day.  That adds up to nearly 5 hours over the course of a year.  More than a half a days production time gained by simply being disciplined in habits.

My number is probably a lot closer to the 100 files per day than 15.  If 15 files a day gains nearly 5 hours 100 will gain nearly 35 hours in a year.  That is almost one week of production gained through disciplined action and I didn't even have to actually work any harder or longer.

This is a very CAD oriented example, but I hope that everyone can grasp my meaning.

A culture of discipline encourages everyone to work in a disciplined way because they see the benefit of their actions to themselves and the team around them, not because of a dictate from an executive on high.  If you are an executive reading this; you can rest assured that the CAD Technician in your company does not care one little bit about wether you want him to close down the drawings he is working on in a certain way because it will increase the overall productivity by up to 2%.

However if the principle of First Who is applied rigorously then he will care about how it effects his ability to do a great job and achieve great things.

A culture of discipline is about thinking ahead and practicing the things that will increase not only the productivity and quality of the product, but also the overall quality in our work experience. 

Good and Great - The Hedgehog Concept

Welcome back everyone!  Sorry for the delay in getting to the next topic, but lets get started without any further delays.

The Hedgehog Concept

In his famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” (www.JimCollins.com)

So here is how it goes. 

The fox is sleek, fast, intelligent, plotting and scheming to catch the hedgehog.

The hedgehog is slow and steady with it's mind always on the goal at hand.

When the fox roles out a brand new plan for catching and eating the hedgehog, what happens?  The hedgehog curls up, out come the spikes, and the fox is thwarted once again.

The Hedgehog Concept boils down to this.  What is the one thing that you, your department or your company can do better than anyone else in the world?  A lofty goal I know.  But then again we are talking about attaining greatness not simply average or above average.

It is the intersection of three things that determines the best hedgehog concept.  In the book these are referred to as the Three Circles and they go like this.

1. What you can be the best in the world at.

2. What drives your economic engine.

3. What you are deeply passionate about.

A hedgehog concept relies on the intersection of these three items.  If I am the best in the world at (insert ridiculous talent here).  I may be deeply passionate about it, but if it annoys everyone else on the planet, I probably will not be able to turn it into a marketable enterprise.  Therefore it does not fit into the three circles and cannot be the core of a hedgehog concept. 

If the passion is not present then I will not be committed and follow through.

If I cannot truly be the best in the world then I can only be good or average and it will not meet the standard for greatness.

All three traits must be in alignment for greatness.  Greatness lies at the intersection of these three circles.

In the case of Kimberly Clark, as discussed in the Level 5 Leadership section, the company found that their hedgehog concept did not even lie within the industry in which they were currently engaged.  So they sold the paper mills and embraced the hedgehog concept.

Here is one of the other examples from the book.

The Boeing Company

When we travel by air in the U.S., most would assume that they are flying in a Boeing built aircraft.  However that was not always the case.  For many years Boeing only built military planes.  But, as the company grew more experienced with large aircraft, and the market for long distance travel by air grew, it became clear to Boeing that they could  make the transition into the private sector and be successful. 

1. They had already mastered big planes with jet engines and large cargo loads. 
2. The market was ripe for growth and expansion.
3. They had a passion for aircraft.

The three circles aligned and a giant was born.  Now, commercial flights all over the world are flown in Boeing aircraft.

What is your Hedgehog Concept?

I can't tell you what your concept should be, so I will not even try.  However, if you have been reading the previous posts then I think you might have an idea of how to figure it out.  Let me just give you these pointers.

• Be the Level 5 Leader who asks the hard questions.
• Talk to the Highly Capable people that you know and work with.  Remember that what highly capable people really want is to be part of something great.
• Face the brutal facts of what they have to say.  Finding the right hedgehog concept must be addressed with honesty and an open mind.

Keep in mind that most of the good to great companies averaged 5 years to fully develop their hedgehog concept.  The reality is that it will not happen overnight, or in a weekend corporate retreat.

A hedgehog concept will only develop if there is a commitment to greatness by those involved.  If someone is not committed to greatness it is time for them to get off the bus completely or change seats to become a follower and not a leader.

Busy, Busy, BUSY!

Sorry for the delay everyone!  I have been very busy at work these last few days and didn't have a chance to write the next installment. 

Let me just say that I am engaging in my own pursuit  of professional excellence right at the moment.  (Otherwise known as, "Trying to meet my deadlines.")

Bare with me and I promise to post the next section on Monday.

Thanks again everyone.

Good and Great - Confront the Brutal Facts

Thanks to you all for checking out the next installment in our look at how to apply principles of greatness to the world of CAD and Design.  For anyone just joining the conversation you may want to review the previous "Good and Great" postings available in the archive.

As many of you know this is a look at the principals discussed in the book "Good to Great" by Jim Collins.  We have already discussed the first main point of Disciplined People broken down into two parts; Level 5 Leadership and First Who Then What.

Pages upon pages could be written about this information alone. (Indeed many pages have been written already.  Just read the book.) However I think it is time to move our discussion along to the next discipline.

Disciplined Thought is about approaching the issues and difficulties that we face from day to day with the most logical and clear mind that we can manage, and recognizing that things may not be as we want to see them. 

I know the old saying, "Hope springs eternal." But why do I as business man  hold on to the idea that what has worked for me in the past will continue to work indefinitely. 

As I was reading, the story of A&P vs. Kroger stuck me as a remarkable contrast in perspectives.  So I will try and share the meat of the story without taking too much time or leaving too much out.

A&P vs. Kroger

It would be hard to find a more drastic example of fortune reversals than this pair.  At the beginning of the comparison period A&P was the largest retail organization in the United States and second only to General Motors in total sales.

Kroger was a little know grocery chain, that was hardly a competing company for A&P.

Where are they both now?  Not many of my generation even know what an A&P store is, while Kroger is now a major grocery chain in the nation reaching from coast to coast.

How can such a reversal be explained?  Lets take a look at the facts of the matter. 

In a country that had just been through two World Wars and a recession where rationing and thrift became a way of life, it is natural that people would gravitate to a spartan store with limited selections but low prices.  Thus A&P had the best business model for the time.  Many small neighborhood stores, with low overheads and razor thin profit margins. Kroger at this time had the same business model but within a much smaller region.

Then in the latter half of the 20th century the culture changed.  Americans became much more affluent and started to look for a store where they could have more choices, get a flu shot, then rent a movie, or choose between 100 flavors of coffee.  They wanted a super store with high quality items and they didn't mind paying for it.

Both A&P and Kroger performed the research and testing to see this change coming.  However only one chose to embrace the brutal fact that times had changed and the customers wanted something other than what they had to offer.

Kroger recognized the change for what it was.  A paradigm shift in the way their patrons shopped and what they were looking for.  A&P having the exact same information embarked on a crusade to convince the public that what it already had in place was what they REALLY wanted.  The same facts two different reactions.

Kroger embarked on a mission to build new stores and revise fully 100% of their market presence.  Building new super stores wherever their research told them that they could attain either 1st or 2nd place in sales.  If they could not beat the rest of the competition,  they pulled out and conserved their resources,  to secure or establish new locations.

A&P lowered prices to try and draw the business in.  Lower prices led to lower margins.  Lower margins led to cost cutting across the board which led to the stores being even more spartan, less clean, having fewer selections, and thus becoming less appealing to the populace that was changing around them.  A tragic downward spiral began.  The stores eventually became so unclean that one of the A&P executives interviewed by the "Good to Great" research team made this comment.

"We didn't just have dirt.  We had dirty dirt!"

A&P, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. is still around, but I have lived, worked, and traveled all over the U.S.. and have never been into one of their stores nor have I even seen one.  I can name several Kroger stores in nearly every place that I have lived and visited.  In fact, I shop regularly at the one just down the street from my house.

Do not get the idea that this is a case of one organization simply not seeing the trend and another one that did.  Neither luck nor a lack of information are factors here.  Both possessed the same information and recognized the same trends.  One made the decision to confront that information and change while the other closed it's eyes and trudged on.

We may not be in a position to set policy and choose strategic objectives for our companies.  However, that does not mean that we get to close our eyes and follow blindly.  Nor does it mean that we have the luxury to ignore facts about existing customers and the industries that we work in.  Quite the contrary actually. 

As a persons aspiring to be Level 5 Leaders within our spheres of influence, and the constant source of feedback for our companies, we must face the brutal fact of what our clients wants on a daily basis.  Then seek to fill that need within the framework of the existing organizations.  If that means developing new tools or techniques then the best attempt must be made.

If we are unable to achieve this goal by means available within the existing structure, then we must be vocal until we are heard.

To remain silent for our own convenience is to forsake discipline in the pursuit of excellence, denying the greatness that we seek.

So often we as drafters and engineers loose the perspective that we are the touch-point between client and employer.  If we are not telling our employers what the customer really wants, how can they know. 

If they will not listen to me, then perhaps I need to enlist a few other highly capable people in my cause.  Adding voices to the cry for change, until the fact can no longer be ignored.

Facing the brutal facts is about living in the real world and seeing it for what it is.  Then having the resolve to choosing the path that I must travel to attain the greatness I know is waiting.

Good and Great - First Who Then What

Welcome back everyone for the next installment in our look at how to apply principles of greatness to the world of CAD and Design.  If you are just joining the conversation you may want to review the previous "Good and Great" postings available in the archive.

The principle of "First Who" as it is described in the book is derived from the fact that all of the companies making the good to great transition discovered and practiced a rather remarkable thing.  It seems that the old adage, "People are a companies most valuable asset." is wrong.  The right people are a companies most valuable asset.

The principle revolves around the idea that if you have a team full of highly capable individuals then that team will be able to adapt more readily to an ever changing environment. 

At first I asked myself, "What exactly is a highly capable person?"  I have known many people who had great skills in one area or another, and yet, they could not grasp any concept outside of their particular realm of experience.  I would not necessarily refer to these people as "Highly Capable". 

In my world I work in many industries regularly, and even more industries irregularly.  So in my world a capable person cannot be strictly a one industry expert.  They must be flexible and quick, with a willingness to always be learning.  But that is just my realm of experience. For a broader perhaps more helpful definition lets reflect on the lessons in the book.

In the first posting "Good and Great" I listed out the three main principles of the book.

Disciplined People

Disciplined Thought

Disciplined Action

A disciplined person arrives to work on time, dresses appropriately for the job, recognizes and follows the rules as a necessary means of being part of the team.  I'm not referring to the robots all around who follow the rules simply because they have no imagination to see beyond them.

I am talking about the rare group of people who understand rules are the common ground that supplies consistency of structure required for people to work together toward a common cause.

Disciplined people recognize the value of their commitment to the team as a whole as well as the goals of the team.

Disciplined thought, is this respect,  is about examining an issue and objectively to determine the best course of action.  A highly capable person can dissect an issue for the purpose of solving it, and not only find the solution but recognize when a problem is untenable.  They can face the brutal fact that there are skills or abilities that they do not poses and then look around them to find the right person to help them.

Disciplined action is the willingness to act on the solution regardless of what it takes.  Like Darwin Smith's decision to sell the mills, disciplined action is to follow the path of excellence without wavering despite the hardship.

If you are in a position like me, you do not have the ability to choose those that you work with or pick the members of you team.  However we still have the ability to choose who discuss issues and solutions with.  A coworker or a friend with keen insight and the traits of a highly capable individual can be a valuable asset.

If you are still having trouble finding the right people to talk and collaborate with I suggest trying your local user group or industry group.  These are great resources for people who are already dedicated to improving their skills and abilities, and they are taking the step of disciplined action to do it by giving up their free time to be with like minded individuals.

That sounds like the beginning of "First Who" thinking to me.

Hello everyone! I just wanted you all to know that I have not dropped off the face of the world!

As many of you know I post new articles on Mondays and Thursdays. However I have been delayed in my series on the application of great principles by a new addition in the family! A baby boy born on Saturday, January 28Th.

I will, without fail, resume my series on Thursday. In the intervening period, I hope that you will take some time to visit the "Good to Great" web site and look through some of the materials available there.

Until then my friends give your inner geek a great big hug and welcome a very small new member into the fold.

Good and Great - Level 5 Leadership

Lets continue on our exploration of the principles learned in the "Good to Great" study.

The first principle discussed in the book is leadership.  Now lets be clear.  The fact that an organization "Has a leader" is not significant.  What the study found is this.

Of the 15 companies that Mr. Collins ad his group studied, all of them had a level 5 leader at the time they began the transition from good to great.  If you don't know what a level 5 leader is then your not alone. 

Mr. Collins gives the following progression of leadership on page 20.

Level 1 - Highly Capable Individual

Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skill, and good work habits.

Level 2 - Contributing Team Member

Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

Level 3 - Competent Manager

Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Level 4 - Effective Leader

Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

Level 5 - Level 5 Executive

Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

As I was reading the book I had trouble imagining what a level 5 would look like if I met one, until I began to read the examples.  So let me go through one as quickly as I can without loosing the dramatic impact of the story.

Darwin E. Smith and Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kimberly-Clark is a paper corporation that in 1971 appointed the in-house attorney, one Mr Darwin Smith, as CEO.  Mr. Smith himself was not sure that the company had decided wisely.  His doubts were reinforced by a director who pulled him aside to remind him that he lacked some of the qualifications for the position.  He was made CEO however and remained in that position for twenty years. 

In 1971 (bNET), under the leadership of Mr. Smith, the company began a climb from paper manufacturing to becoming one of  the worlds leaders in paper based consumables.  Shortly after the beginning of his term as CEO he and his colleges came to the conclusion that the companies primary business of producing coated paper held at best a mediocre future.

Smith ultimately made the bold decision to sell all of the paper mills.  Even the original mill in Kimberly, Wisconsin, the flagship of the company.  A truly gutsy move, stepping outside of the long standing company tradition and investing the money from the sale of the mills into paper based consumables.

A man of stoic resolve and discipline he never wavered in his conviction that selling the mills was the right decision.  Eventually he was proven right.  In 1995 Kimberly-Clark announced a merger with Scott Paper Co. to create a global consumer company with $11 billion dollars in annual revenue.

What kind of leader makes this bold decision?  According to the book he was more likely to be found spending his free time among plumbers and electricians than at the country club.  He reportedly spent his vacations in the cab of a backhoe digging holes and moving rocks.  So if you have never heard of Darwin Smith, don't feel bad.  He probably would have liked it that way.

The Point

Darwin Smith made the decision to sell the mills because he knew that the company and industry had reached it's limit.  There was little possibility of growth and poor competition to drive the company forward.  At the core I believe it was a rejection of the average and the embrace of a grand vision.  Although the scope is different, I understand.

As I look at the way I do my job and production tasks; I have begun to ask, "Where are my mills?"  Where are the things that I have come to rely on that are really there because I am comfortable with them, rather than because they are the best decisions.

I can't tell you where the particular mills are in your world.  However, I would suggest that you ask the following questions.

1. Will a software upgrade and a change in the user interface hamper my ability to work productively?
2. Are the new features and tools not being used because no one knows how to implement them?
3. Is it possible to customize or automate part of the project work flow?
4. Is my company so invested in the current customization that it CANNOT upgrade without a major change in process?

These are not all "sell the mills" type of decisions but they may require a similar attitude to change current behaviors and mentalities.  I have seen all of these things hamper the productivity of drafters that would be great if they would just address their own biases.  Changing a particular way of thinking can be just as dramatic and difficult as Darwin Smith's decision to sell all of the mills and embark in a new direction.

I am not a Level 5 Leader as the book talks about them.  However I would like to be one some day, and perhaps that is a start.  One thing that I do know is this.  I do not have to be the CEO of a major corporation to start thinking in this manner.

The focus should not always be on what is most convenient for me, my employer, or my coworkers.  The best decision is not necessarily even the most obviously convenient for the client or project.  The best decision is the one that rigorously adheres to excellence in all facets.

Good and Great

In the previous two postings the discussion revolved around the tools that I believe should be explored thoroughly for immediate introduction into project workflow.  Then I closed with a couple remarks about competing in an ever changing world.  It is that topic that I would like to explore a little more in this post.

If you have never read the book "Good to Great", by Jim Collins, I highly suggest that you do so.  The insights that it offer are excellent in their clarity and precise in their explanations.  Although this book is about what it takes to make a good company into a great company, I found myself examining more than the company that I work for in light of the book.

I started looking at my department and my coworkers.  More importantly, I began examining my own attitudes towards each of these.  The result was surprising to me, but ultimately encouraging.

Don't misunderstand.  This is not going to be a book review, but rather an exploration into the application of great principles to our daily tasks.

I am going to take a few postings to examine the role that attitude plays in determining an ability to compete and truly become great at whatever we do; but with a focus on CAD and design.

Good is the Enemy of Great

Mr. Collins makes one of his most valuable points on the very first page of his book.  The idea that good is the enemy of great is just this.  We don't have great institutions simply because it is so easy to have an adequate and sufficient organization.  The trap of mediocrity and marginal performance is so easy to become intrenched in.

Consider this for a moment if you will.  The reason that we do not have great schools is because we have so many simply good schools.  How would the school system be different if the focus was to turn out 4.0 straight A students as possible.  Contrast this idea to the current standard of education meeting a minimum standard for graduation.  This would take a nearly radical commitment to the pursuit of of excellence in academics, and that is precisely the point.

Discipline and rigor in the pursuit of excellence is the mark to which many never aspire.

I can easily think of ways that I have settled for mediocrity in my work to hit a deadline or finish my day a little early.  There is nothing wrong with seeking to trim a few minutes or hours off of a process.  It is the sacrifice of excellence that is the problem. 

The lowering of standards in the pursuit of the simply average, that is the offence.

Mr. Collins and his crew of researchers boiled down stacks of data and interviews into a few simple principles.

Disciplined People - Leadership; First Who Then What

Disciplined Thought - ConFront the Brutal Facts, Hedgehog Concept

Disciplined Action - Culture of Discipline, Technology Accelerators

So join me in reflection over the next few posts, and take a look at principles  of greatness applied to the world of CAD and design.

Some Good Tools for Instant Productivity - Part 2

Here we are again, back to round out the list of the top five tools to implement for an instant productivity increase.  If you are just joining into the conversation you might want to take the time to go back and review the previous post entitled, "Some Good Tools for Instant Productivity".  This will help you follow along with the continuation.

In the last posting I covered four of the top five tools everyone should begin to look at and implement.

5. Dynamic Blocks

4. Fields

3. Publish

2. eTransmit

Coming in at the number one position is Sheet Sets and here are the reasons why.

1. Sheet Sets

Introduced in AutoCAD 2005, this is quite simply the most powerful and useful tool that has been introduced into AutoCAD since UNDO or perhaps PURGE.  I know that is a bold statement.  At my company we ask everyone who interviews what their favorite AutoCAD command is, and about 90% of them say UNDO.  (If asked that question don't say UNDO, even if it is true.  Say something else.  Anything else, will help set you apart and encourage conversation so you can show off what you know.) 

A tool that can not only help you streamline the way you organize and work with your drawings, but track details, and publish entire sets of drawings with less than a handful of clicks.  Then pack the entire project up for transmittal to the client or for archival, is definitely among the coolest things ever implemented.

But wait!  That is not everything!  I can also nearly eliminate the need for the OPEN FILE dialog box.  A somewhat necessary evil up until now, who's time has finally come.  Never again will we be forced to browse up and down the project tree looking for the right file!  Only to realize that there are 14 files with the same name and slightly varied versions of the word "old" at the end.

Never again will I sort through an entire set of drawings hunting for a detail call out that has changed.  I will instead use fields in an attributed block and have them update automatically as I change information in my Sheet Set Manager.

So it sounds great so far.  "But what will this wonder tool cost me?", you ask.

My answer is "Nothing."  You already have it.  In fact if is not currently being used and you have a version newer than AutoCAD release 2004 then it has been closed and discarded as one of the, "Annoying windows that pop up when I open my new version."

So open AutoCAD and follow along as I introduce you to the wonders of Sheet Sets that seems to have fallen by the wayside somehow.

Starting a new Sheet Set is quite simple.  From the command line enter SHEETSET.  This will open up the Sheet Set Manager dialog and you will see a drop-down box in the upper left corner that has the word "OPEN..." in it.  Selecting the drop-down and choosing the "New Sheet Set..." option will launch a wizard.

At this point the option is given to create from a Template supplied by Autodesk or from existing drawings.  To complete this process check out this link on the subject.  AutoCAD Insider

Publishing and eTransmit are made even more simple when combined with Sheet Sets.  A right click on the Sheet Set name at he top of the tree will present the user with a wide variety of choices including Publish and eTransmit. 

If publish is selected then a flyout menu will appear.  At the top of the flyout is the most useful feature.  The publish to DWF command will send the entire selection to a multi-sheet DWF file.  (If you are not using DWF yet, it is time to look into it!)  If you try this and things don't look quite like you expect you may need to do a little cleanup on the layout.  Check out this link to learn more.  Autodesk Labs

When eTransmit is selected the entire Sheet Set and the associated files will be populated into the eTransmit dialog box.  From this point the entire process is the same as any other transmittal.

Fields, when combined with Sheet Sets make a powerful tool for reducing time intense intense tasks such as renumbering sheets, revising issue dates, drawn by, and any other information could normally be put in an attributed block.

Check out this link for more information. Robert Green

Closing Thought

The fact of the matter, is this. The fundamental nature of the way we work is changing.  Projects are getting larger and deadlines are moving ever closer to the kick-off meetings. 

The impact is that we as drafters and designers simply must change the way we approach our work flow.  I cannot afford the several hours it may take me to sit and plot a set of drawings one at a time.  In a world where companies can transmit scans to a third world country and have work done for a fraction of what it costs to have an employee or local contractor do it.  We must adapt and prove that efficient and cost effective can be joined with local and knowledgeable to produce a better product.

Leveraging our ingenuity  and the technology at hand is the only way to compete.

Some Good Tools for Instant Productivity

I have talked a lot about keeping up to date.  However, before you can keep up, you have to catch up.  In this posting I will talk about my picks as the best features in AutoCAD to implement for immediate results. 

Here are my top 5 picks:

5.  Dynamic Blocks

Introduced in AutoCAD 2006 these little gems allow the user to change and modify an existing block without altering all of the other block instances in the drawing.  Imagine being able to move or change one feature of a block without having to explode it, or being able to change the appearance of a block entirely.  I have put together a list of sites that offer great tutorials so I will not go into how they work.  Just let me say this.  Check it out! Open up the ToolPallette and go to the Dynamic blocks tab to see a sample of pre-made blocks that can be played with and experimented with.  Between the Lines, Autodesk, Ellen Finkelstein

4.  Fields

Fields arrive on the scene in AutoCAD 2005.  Widely unknown or misunderstood fields have gone unused in most production environments.  These are great for adding into text that you would normally fill with data derived from the drawing.  (i.e. Point Elevation, Area of a closed polyline, Drawing plot date, etc.) 

Just to give a quick example.  While working on MEP (Mechanical Electrical Plumbing) coordination project for a hospital I had to put in elevation tags all over the model.  I wanted it to be standard and adjustable so I created a dynamic block that would allow me to flip,  rotate and stretch the block as needed.  This was great.  It worked like a leader and looked the way I wanted it.  The only problem was that to fill the attribute value I had to copy and paste the Z coordinate from the properties dialog.  Quick enough, but when placing hundreds in a model and then revising the model it became a time consuming task to manage it all. 

By placing a field that displayed the Z coordinate for the block insertion I no longer had to mange the tags beyond making sure that it was in the right place. 

Better yet, I could now use a block that was a management issue, as a modeling tool by placing it in the right place and then drafting to it.  It became a construction item that was actually part of the finished product and an instant QC (Quality Control) tool.

Check out these links for more information on AutoCAD fields: Ellen Finkelstein, cadalyst, CAD Forum

3.  Publish

Publish came out in the AutoCAD 2004 release and what a difference it can make.  If you plot sets of drawings by opening and printing one at a time then you need to start using this tool.  Be warned now.  Publish is an infectious and productivity enhancing tool.  You will, without a doubt, experience praise from your boss and an increased expectation to perform.  Here is how it works.

From the command line enter PUBLISH.  This will open the publish dialog box.  You should see the layouts in your current drawings listed in the dialog box.  From here you can select the whole list and and assign any named Page Setup to the entire list.  By clicking the Add Drawings button it is possible to add the layouts from other drawings into the publish list and then assign a named Page Setup.

If you happen to work for a company where you can simply open a drawing, type plot, and hit enter to send the plot without making any additional changes then you will not need to change the setup from default.  You can just add the file to the Publish list and then run the batch.

Check out these links for more information on AutoCAD Publish: Ellen Finkelstein, cadalyst, CAD Forum

2.  eTransmit

This is a "classic" feature with a new look and more capabilities.  For those of us that have been around for a while we will recognize the main functionality to be the same as Pack'n Go (It has been a long time and I can't remember if that was the way to spell it or not.  If you know what it is then its no problem.  If you don't know what it is, don't bother) 

Here is the way that I use eTransmit to make my life easier.  After all, is that not what CAD is for?  To make MY life easier.  When I get a call from a client asking me to send the 100 page construction set from the architects office to the contractor so they can do take-off's or whatever I have a few options.

Option 1.   I can browse the project folders and grab all of the DWG, tiff, jpg, ctb, and miscellaneous font files that I used in the project. (Boy isn't that fun.)  Then copy them all to one directory so that all of my external references path correctly (As an added bonus. They will never figure out my super secret project folder structure!)  Then put it on a CD, FTP site, or engage in torturing the contractor with a monstrous email attachment that will be so HUGE it will take the better part of the afternoon for them to down load it.  If it goes through at all.  In fact it will will probably be so big that I might CC the client on the email.  Just so they know the task was accomplished and to thank them for eating up several hours of my day of course.

Option 2.  I can copy the entire working folder structure of my project and transmit it using one of the above mentioned options.  Of course if I do this I will get all of the backup files and other digital detritus that a large project produces, probably double my transmittal size and give away my super secret project folder structure.  I know that they will become VERY familiar with my structure for the simple reason that none of the xref files will be found unless I have meticulously maintained all of the relative pathing.  Oh and don't forget to go round up the font files from the AutoCAD fonts directory for any necessary SHX files and the Windows fonts directory for the TTF fonts.

Option 3.  Open one of my project files.  Any file in the project will serve my purposes but I generally choose whatever sheet is first in the set.  Save the file.  Etransmit will not collect a file that has not been saved immediately preceding the eTransmit command.  Then from the menu's pick  File-->eTransmit...

The "Create Transmittal" dialog window will open and you should see a file tree with the current file and any associated xref's, fonts, etc. There are various options for configuration and control.  This can be used to grab everything needed to open, display and plot one file or one hundred files and the steps are pretty much the same. 

All in all this process takes about 10 minutes with a large project and it will even make sure all of your xrefs are pathed properly.  Pretty cool, and what a time saver!

I have attached a link here (Ellen Finkelstein) to an excellent tutorial, and will not go through every step.  I do encourage you to read through and try it a couple times.  You will never look back.

1.  Will be in the next posting!!!

I know it is a little early on to be writing cliffhangers but I just couldn't resist.

Keeping Up With the Tools

It is important, and difficult, in this time of rapidly changing technology to keep up.  I think that most every one will agree with such a bland and obvious statement as that. But what does it really mean?

Should you stay one release behind so that all the bugs are worked out?  Should you always buy and install the newest release immediately?  Is there a happy medium somewhere?  Many people work for a firm or corporation where the decision to upgrade is completely out of their control.  What should they do?

I am not a big fan of the one release behind theory.  In my opinion there has not been a BAD release of AutoCAD since release 13.  If you used it then you know what I am talking about.  In my previous posting I talked about the Shrinking Pie Syndrome and I think that by staying one release behind it is far to easy to fall into that trap.

I often wonder how many of us just click the, "Don't show me this again." option when the new features window pops up the first time you load the newest version.  The number would be large I'm sure.

If you are like me then you want to be able to look at what is not only in the newest release but the next one also.  I want to not only be able to see what I have, but I want to know what is coming down the pipe from the software company in the next release.  I don't want to just be on the leading edge of technology.  I want to be on the "bleeding edge".

  If you don't know how to get a glimpse into the mind of a software developer and your skills of prognostication are not what you would like them to be.  (I always wondered why psychics have these run down looking buildings in the worst part of town.  If I could see the future I would pick a wining stock or two and just retire.)  The best way is to get involved with a local user group (LUG).  Try WWW.AUGI.COM for all of the Autodesk users out there.  The LUG that I am involved with does a "What's new in AutoCAD" with every release.  This is a great opportunity to see the best of the new features in one shot .

The AUGI site can help you find a LUG near you and then you can get involved to whatever extent you are comfortable.

Another good option is to take a class or two from a reseller or a local tech school.  This option is a good one but usually require two thing that most of us do not want to put out.  The first thing is money.  A reseller class can range from $200.00 up to $1000.00 depending on how the class is structured and how much personal attention you want.  The second thing is time.  These classes are almost always during the work day which will require time off from work.

If none of these options appeal to you.  I suggest getting involved in Beta testing program.  Autodesk has a great Beta program that allows you to get a glimpse of the upcoming release for free.  On top of that you actually get to tell them what you like and don't like about the new version!  You can help find the bugs BEFORE they go out into the rest of the world.

They guy who runs this Beta program is Shaan Hurley.  Shaan is a great guy who really cares about the product and the people who use it.  Everyone has to get past him and his team before getting into the Beta program.  The best way to get started is to click here ( myfeedback.autodesk.com ) and sign up.

This is the best option for those who work in an environment where they have no say in when an upgrade takes place.  The Beta program is free. Which is a big plus for the budget minded tech junky.  Then, when Autodesk releases everyone from the nondisclosure that is required, informed suggestions can be made to the powers-that-be regarding upgrading and whether it will help improve the process or not.  (Also, Beta tester looks great on a resume.)

Beta testing can be a fair bit of work, but I think the opportunity to look ahead and plan the integration of new tools and features is well worth the time for those of us who want to stay at the head of the industry.

My personal opinion is that you should upgrade every release and learn all the new features but only implement the ones that will add efficiencies to your daily routine.  A massive overhaul of your companies work flow is usually a major undertaking and a serious pain in the rear.  (Although it can be necessary from time to time.)  The need for this can be drastically reduced by staying with the current release and at least looking at all of the new tools at your disposal.

The Shrinking Pie

Since the quest for knowledge is the purpose of our little get together. Let me pose the question that really nags at me after all these years of working with some of the best and the brightest.

"Why is it that we pay thousands of dollars for software and only use or understand a very small percentage of it?"

I once heard this phenomenon described as the "Shrinking Pie Syndrome" by dave espinosa-aguilar. dave is one of the most knowledgeable and entertaining instructors at Autodesk University and I look forward to them every year. This is how the Shrinking Pie Syndrome works.

The Shrinking Pie Syndrome looks at our total knowledge of our CAD software in terms of a Pie Chart. The whole pie represents everything there is to know about your CAD package. The two slices of the pie represent the things that you know and the the things that you do not know about the software you are using.

When you bought your first seat of (insert favorite or most used CAD software here) and installed it. Most of us sought out some training or read the manual cover to cover to learn everything that we needed to know. Then we spent hours practicing and learning how to use the VERY expensive tool we had to mortgage the house to afford.

After learning all we could. A process was developed to accomplish whatever task actually made us money and allowed us to repay, among other things, the newly acquired mortgage. At this point the "Things I Know" slice is probably quite large. Then the next release came out.

This is where the slice of pie that represents what you know about your CAD software begins to shrink. ( I will refer to AutoCAD produced by Autodesk from here out because that is what I am most familiar with and how I originally heard the analogy explained.)

Some of you reading this may have actually stopped there. Currently you are very contentedly hacking away at projects with your excellent and very stable version of AutoCAD R14 or other sunset version of CAD. I know many of these companies are out there. They are profitable, but they still have not escaped the ever shrinking slice of pie. The world is moving on around them and they are missing out on efficiencies and time/money savings every day.

Those that have upgraded are a slightly better off. We at least have the new tools in our possession. However, if a little time is not allowed to fairly investigate the new tools then I might as well have not spent the money to upgrade. I will probably still use the new version in the same way that I used the old version. And my slice of the pie will continue to shrink until it is just a sliver of the whole.

dave's suggestion is to sit down with a beer (after hours please) and work your way through every command in the manual. This will probably take quite a while. In fact, if you try to do it all in one sitting and drink your way through the manual; I am fairly certain that there will be a trip to the emergency room in your near future. There are literally thousands of commands in AutoCAD and it will require months to go through.

If this is too much of a commitment, (it is for me) then my suggestion is that you sit down with a beverage of your choice, go through one item in the new features tour every day and learn it. This will at least give you the chance to make an informed decision about whether or not the feature is helpful to your process and worth the time to implement.

After all...you bought the pie, and it was expensive. Shouldn't you get to eat the whole thing?

The First Post

A friend convinced me that I need to start writing down my thoughts and ideas concerning CAD and the Engineering world. So, here I am.

You, like me, may be asking yourself, "What is the point of this blog." My simple answer is knowledge. Knowledge of anything that will make our work life more efficient and enjoyable, and perhaps to laugh at ourselves and others as we blunder through our daily routine.

It is said that the first step is the most difficult and, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." I guess that would indicate I have started my journey to some unknown place far away. (Although if the first step requires such an effort, and the destination so far away and uncertain, I'm not sure why some people bother to begin with.) So I invite you to follow along as I document my way through the Dilbert like world of CAD, engineering and design.