Roy Lewallen wrote:

Perhaps it's your background as a manager that's in evidence here. I was
one of the people that "concept" people like you "let" provide the
equations. I have an apropos Doonesbury cartoon on my office wall:

Pointy-haired boss, pointing to simple graph labeled "Sales": "Sales are
dropping like a rock."

Pointy-haired boss, pointing to a graph labeled "Future", with single
upward line: "Our plan is to invent some sort of doohickey that everyone
wants to buy."

Pointy-haired boss, to Dilbert: "The visionary leadership work is done.
How long will your part take?"

At review time, the boss judged me on whether the "doohickey" worked
according to specifications that he and some marketing people came up
with in "concept" meetings. All I had to do was to understand the
science, come up with the equations, develop new technology as required,
create the device, and make it work -- all on a schedule and within a
budget which were also dictated by the "visionaries". Just grunt work,
not worthy of the visionary people who were doing more important things.

I don't believe for a minute that the boss really understood how the
device worked.

I like your Dilbert cartoon, Roy. On the other hand, imagine the boss's
disappointment at seeing the same old doohickey reappear each time with
only a couple new doodads hanging from it. Is it time for a new boss,
or time for a new engineer?

73, Jim AC6XG