Pateo Management Consulting

Our Background Knowledge

Diverse Experience:

My interpersonal- and inter-group communication, technical and marketing knowledge have been developed in product, technical, project and executive leadership in:

Integrated circuit research and development - involving processors and memories and the development of intellectual property-for-sale
Integrated circuit software system methodology research and development
Processor architecture and DSP hardware and software chip architecture
Telecom and datacom system product R and D
PC hardware research and development for high volume products
Industrial automation equipment software and hardware research and development
PC software development for office and industrial applications

My working experience has ranged from working on a production line through the minute intimacies of memory (RAM) chip R and D through data communication equipment sales to new product definition to R and D Vice President to Computer and Marketing Consultancy. Employers have ranged from giants like Philips, IBM, Nortel, BNR, Commodore to small and medium sized companies at various stages in development - Amiga, Gennum, ATI, IPS, Calmos, Kaval Telecom...

Diverse Business Environments:

My working experience and working exposure has been in Canada, USA, Germany, Japan, Korea, Australia and the UK, with extensive experience in the complex multi-ethnic communication situations that arise in multi-national companies and in Canadian High Tech companies. I have worked in small companies trying to be big companies, big companies that understand people and big companies that don't, and in frantic small and large companies dominated by dictatorial individuals.

From working in horizontal, cross-company situations involving sales and marketing, R and D, production and customers I understand why companies must change scattered data into managed, communicated, systematically organized proprietary knowledge, and I understand the human communication issues that are the backdrop to being able to do this effectively.

Effectively Managing Communication and Knowledge:

Few companies attempt to systematically develop successful human communication across the wide range of technical and functional specialties within their diverse populations knowledge, ages, interests and backgrounds. I believe there are substantial opportunities for improved business competitiveness from improving human communication across these diversities and that there are similar opportunities in the vertical channels of communication between top executives and their representatives, and employees. As businesses move from considering themselves creators and marketers of products to creators and marketers of knowledge it seems likely that the effective, efficient use of knowledge workers - the efficiency of whom is currently little understood - will become the major focus for competitive advantage.

Meeting Impossible needs with Effective Communication:

My interest in the area of communication of knowledge has been the result of seeing the startlingly positive results I have been able to obtain from successfully encouraging - via effective communication - diverse groups of people to focus effectively on the real issues confronting them in developing complex products in situations demanding innovation. I have - many times - been in the situation of working, struggling, fighting to inspire individuals and groups in technical, schedule, business and customer situations to have - eventually - the satisfaction of seeing them suddenly 'see the light' and seize the problem, hence to produce an innovative solution that meets the businesses hitherto impossible needs.
Problems have been solved catalytically by focusing on creating good communication in the context of the issue, rather than on the issue itself. I truly believe that necessity is the mother of invention - and that that 'necessity' has to developed and 'sold' to the mothers of the inventions - the knowledge workers challenged with meeting tough business needs.

Practical Knowledge Management Background:

My interest and experience in Knowledge Management has been developed by the practical experience of defining new products in the context of recognizing market opportunities and marrying them to technical opportunities. In particular my experience in defining integrated circuits, products for PC's and system products has emphasized the need to place, in one critical 'gelling' product-defining discussion, a wide variety of deliberately collected knowledge - for example:

Knowledge of:

of what customers buy now and why with informed speculation of what they might buy in the future

of how current customers apply current products
of the pressures felt by end-users of the product that might impact the product specification
of what competitors are currently doing and speculation as to their future direction
of the business direction the host business would like to take
of the status (cost, performance) the manufacturing technology of (e.g. integrated circuits) when the product reaches early volume production and when the product reaches maximum volume production
of what new design techniques will become sufficiently mature to use during critical design phases of the product
of where the design technology (e.g. CAD or software libraries) will be during critical design phases of the design
of what production test techniques will be available at early low volume production and later high volume production
of the availability of software tools, libraries and components from the market
of the impacts of hardware decisions on existing software investments
of the likely status of host product operating systems at the time of product introduction
of the capability and availability of internal software and hardware development skills
of what new knowledge will become available, and when, on each of the above topics so that development programs can be structured to take advantage of new inputs as they become available

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