.... I recall when I was subcontracts manager in a new engineering design area and I did not at that time know what a db was. :) I spent lots of time in the training of my tolerant and kindly engineers. We worked as a pair. They engineered and I lead/managed. By the time I finished my first project I had some really fundamental / core engineering knowledge of electronic communication systems. I also knew never to move 5 feet without my engineer. :) A few years later, having learned a lot, my Quality engineer was bored with quality and I was a tad stale with contracts. We kinda switched roles for fun for a few months. It was fun, and we covered each other. He learned a lot about contracts and I got a new perspective. He sure got a new perspective on quality as I was quite willing to "pick" good ones instead of spending too much to find out why something was "bad." hehehehe. We did switch back. :) My point is that I could not be a good subcontracts person without two things: 1) a core understanding of the engineering of my product line and 2) the wisdom to trust my engineers wisely.

Dr. Conna Condon