[Leica] Re: In the hands of its engineers, not bean counters

[jcb at visualimpressions.com (JCB)]

Being an engineer, and having been one for exactly forty years this month, 
I can attest to the fact that engineers are notoriously bad marketers and 
even worse in company management.

Every once in a while, a ringer will slip through and beat the odds, but 
for the most part, my sentence above is correct.

Engineers always know how to make something better and will work forever on 
something, never finishing it so that it might be sold. It's called 
creeping elegance. Marketing always wants something that cannot be built, 
they want it yesterday, and they want it for pennies rather than dollars. 
Company upper management seems oblivious to what's going on beneath them. 
Reports come in, reports go out. They will change the company's direction 
at the most inappropriate time. When the money runs out, the doors close. 
But the company upper management got their share of the pot long before 
taps played. Marketing left months ago. The engineers are left holding the 
bag! What happened? Where'd everyone go? If only we were in charge! Ha!

R&D is where engineers thrive. Play with stuff all of the time. No product 
to get out. Just play play play. Nirvana!

:-)

JB