The culture in the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE), particularly with regards to quality, was without a doubt the best I've experienced. One thing that really made it great was the common understanding that perfection is impossible. While that may sound odd at face value, what made it powerful was that when issues occurred, they tended to be taken a lot less as a personal blow.

Let's paint a picture of two very different environments, whose root differences can be largely traced back to differences embedded deep in their quality culture. Let's begin with what sadly is more likely to be the default state. "Quality isn't a department" is a phrase that feels largely over-used these days (and beloved by AI), but the situation I will begin with is one where quality is, indeed, more of a compartmentalized department, silo'd outside of production, design,

One of the most important concepts I picked up designing and building Formula SAE racecars in college was systems thinking. A team could easily have "the best engine" or "the best suspension" or "the best controls" and get beat in every category by a car that wasn't the best in any particular area, but successfully integrated all components into one harmonious system. What made the winning teams' cars not only fast but exciting from a design standpoint were things like how

Learn more about Big W Engineering's values from our appearance on The 96% Perfect Podcast

Taking a vacation to the beach 3 months after starting a business is probably not something you'll find in any entrepreneurial self-help book. The best entrepreneurs, however, will remind you to never lose focus on your true north star. Partnership exists in many layers and contexts, but all stems from the same source inside of us, whether it be related to business partnerships or family. Likewise, even vacations have their own risks which need to be mitigated to ensure mi

A lot of people were surprised at my decision to leave the corporate world. I was at a great company, led an amazing team, and had just cleared some very significant hurdles on the product my team supported. When I started we were a scrappy bunch with just over a dozen quality engineers with seemingly impossible qualification tasks, the two most infamous suppliers in the organization, and buried in quality escapes and overdue CARs. Three years later we had completed the impo

A quick look into where we came from and what inspires us to do what it takes to build a solid reputation.