Last night, we had a trio of alums sharing their experiences of work and life. First up, Dan Ryan, CIO for the City of Battle Creek shared the parallels between mountain climbing and leadership. He should know--he has climbed Kilimanjaro and Mt. Rainier. Of course, you had to be there to learn the full story of "instant teaming" and how to behave when you're roped to a novice climber and your life depends on him. Rather than plan, organize, control, and direct, Dan said we need to use VIP--vision, implementation, and persistence.
Although not a GEM alum, Dan holds his masters in Public Administration from WMU.
Although not a GEM alum, Dan holds his masters in Public Administration from WMU.
Next up was Kerry Paskell, a 2002 GEM graduate who now works for Ford Motor Co. In China. But, he was on vacation in Thailand and graciously took time out of his early morning to talk with us. He works with the Power Train manufacturing group and took on the three-year expat challenge to launch brand new facilities in China. When he says launch, he means bricks and mortar and spec'ing out all the manufacturing equipment needed in the facility. We got a good glimpse into the rise of the Chinese and Asia Pacific automotive market and how Kerry is helping build Ford's presence. He has responsibilities for China, India, and Thailand.
Then, we spoke with Kevin Khaw, a 2005 GEM graduate who has worked for Google going on 8 years. He's based on Mt. View, California, a sharp contrast from our snowy evening Michigan. Kevin took us through the Google interview process (one phone interview and five on-site interviews, back-to-back) and how the "soft skills" are needed for a good cultural fit with the organization. He's seen Google grow from 8,000-9,000 employees when he started to its current 55,000 employees. Last year, Google hired 10,000 employees, so many Googlers are involved in recruiting and interviewing.
Kevin's advice to us was to learn how to manage your time better. He gets 600-700 emails daily, so you have to be very efficient. Also, he had advice on product launches, too, from the Google perspective. Google practices MVP: minimum viable product. Rather than get everything perfect, Google wants to get a working product out there, so Googlers get a working prototype out in phased releases. They can get all the analytics on the product and then decide on how to do a full launch, if warranted.
Thanks to Dan, Kerry, and Kevin for sharing time with the students of IME 6000! This provides some inspiration for what you can do with your Engineering Management master's degree from WMU.
Kevin's advice to us was to learn how to manage your time better. He gets 600-700 emails daily, so you have to be very efficient. Also, he had advice on product launches, too, from the Google perspective. Google practices MVP: minimum viable product. Rather than get everything perfect, Google wants to get a working product out there, so Googlers get a working prototype out in phased releases. They can get all the analytics on the product and then decide on how to do a full launch, if warranted.
Thanks to Dan, Kerry, and Kevin for sharing time with the students of IME 6000! This provides some inspiration for what you can do with your Engineering Management master's degree from WMU.
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