Product Design & Architecture

Few people have all the answers. You could spend a year or two in your basement attempting to become a polymath and do everything yourself, but by the time your product reaches the market it may be obsolete. Great things come about when the right people bring their talents to bear at the right time.

Risk

Everything we do in engineering involves risk - financial, time, opportunity, reputation, personal safety, and so much more. Being mindful of the higher or lower risks of one option vs. another can pay off ten-fold. From identifying unknowns at the start of a project, to evaluating the risks of making one change vs. another to an existing design later on, making informed decisions is critical to the endeavour.

Communication Between Disciplines

‘Nuff said? ;)
I’ve worked in commerical and industrial sectors, in electronics-involved product design and IT consulting, working with people from all kinds of technical, managerial, and financial fields, the maturity that comes from that lived experience, and a quiet, calm, but forthright demeanour with frequent splashes of good, and sometimes wicked, humour.

Networking & Getting Out There

Being active in both the professional and amateur/Maker community also helps to stay abreast of areas I might not otherwise cross paths with, and meet people from many walks of life - serendipity basically, and getting fresh perspectives.

This is me at a Sydney OzBerry monthly makerspace meetup, presenting about my experiences in Shenzhen in October 2014.  On most OzBerry Sundays I just hung around helping others with their projects.
http://www.meetup.com/OzBerryPi/events/219893298/

Other events:

Sydney Mini-Maker-Fair:
http://www.meetup.com/OzBerryPi/photos/26337841/#442801760
http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/1/9/1/highres_440937745.jpeg

A quiet Sunday afternoon hacking:
http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/8/f/2/highres_277590962.jpeg