Presented by: Stephanie Watts Butler, PhD, PE

1. Life Innovating Art
Stephanie Watts Butler, PhD, PE
Technology Innovation Manager
Power Supply Solutions
Texas Instruments

2. How To Transform Inventions
•Successful Innovation Projects Require
– Communication
– Clarification
– Preparation
– Inspiration
•This Talk
– IS NOT A Project Mgmt 101 Presentation
– IS A Complement to Project Mgmt 101
•Skills, Tips, And Tricks Of The Trade For
New Technology Projects
– Actions You Can Take to Ensure Success
•Leverage Your Inner Geek for Soft Skills
2

3. Designing an Innovation Project
Like a Control System
•Define Goals, Targets, Constraints
– Urgent, Top Priority, Nice to Have
– Stake Holder and Sponsor Management
– In R&D, Defining the Goal/Metric May Be THE Need
•Observability & Controllability
– Metrics (Observability)
– Resources (Controllability)
•What Other Aspects of Control Design?
– Feedforward, Predictive, Supervisory,...
•Clarify the Design of the Project (Control System)
vs.
Definition of the Product
3

4. Dr. Seuss’ Law of Technology
4
Traditional
Technology
Scaling
Has Been
Knocked Out
....ALL Technology
Faces Huge
Monsters
During its
Development
(Source: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss)

5. Dr. Seuss’ Unorthodox Solution
to Technology Development
5
• The Obvious:
– Recognize The Challenge
– Be Prepared
• The Not-So-Obvious
– Enjoy The Challenge
– Don’t Let Physics Stop You
• Think Outside the Box
(Source: One Fish,
Two Fish, Red
Fish, Blue Fish by
Dr. Seuss)

6. Assumptions
•When Discussing Likely Failure Points,
A Quote You Should Never Accept:
“It’s the Same”
– Try These Questions Instead –
• What is different, but is irrelevant?
• What is different, but you don’t care
• What is different, but doesn’t impact you?
•Want to Root Out All Assumptions
– End with NONE
6

7. Risk, Risk, Risk
•“Robust Control”
– Handles Risk & Mis-assumptions Well
– (Usually) Produces Sub-Optimal Results
• Overly Conservative Approach to Technology Development Not Viable
•Need a Risk Mitigation Plan
– Some Reduce Risk to Schedule or Results
• Parallel Approaches vs Speed to Result
– Some Speed Knowledge of Possible Failure,
but Not Reduce Risk of Failure
"I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.“
-Unknown
– When Do You Fix the Brakes?
When Do You Make Horn Louder?
7

8. Big Scope
•Way to Get Better Trade-off?
– Match the Model/Math (Management) to Reality
•The Little p in Politics
– "Life is More Like High School than College,"
Meryl Streep
8
Stakeholder/Sponsor agreed
Goals, Time, Cost
Cost Goal
Time
p
Leads to Little p

9. Does the Plan
Have Quality
&
Agreement?
•Look For Consistency
•What If Exercise To Determine Closure
• "Parking Lot List" - Must Review In Future
•Sense of Urgency
– Are You Seeing It? How Do You Create It?
9
Dissipating
Energy
(talk)
Spending
Time
(doing)
Allocating
Money
(resources)
Reporting
Milestones
“A Goal without A Plan is A Wish”
Larry Elder ; Antoine de Saint-Exupery

10. Inspire the Environment
10
Rob Ryan artist, 2010, product under license
by Wild & Wolf Ltd., Bath, UK
Hawthorne
Effect
Pygmalion
Effect

11. Appreciation – GIVE THANKS
Thanks Goes to
Dr. Seuss and The Creative Engineers,
Scientists, Technicians, Operators, and
People of Texas Instruments who
Do Not Let Physics Box Them In
Our Suppliers Who Enable Our Success
Our Customers Who Have Made TI #1 In
The Markets We Serve
11
Plan For Periodic “Successes”
Meeting Folks Currency Needs (little “p” in Politics)

12. Quick List of Tips
•Focus
•Engage The Team
•Communicate with Color
•Ride the Wave & Dive
Deep
12

13. Life Will
Never
Ever
Be
The
Same

14. Let’s Discuss...
14

15. Hospitality Suite in Hilton (Holiday 2)
Booth 837 Career Fair

16. what now?
talk to a TI recruiter
learn more and apply online
at ti.com/students
follow us

17. a global,
diverse
company
• One of the world’s largest
semiconductor companies
• Nearly 35,000 employees
worldwide
• Operating in more than 35
countries
• Total revenue of $12.8B in
2012

18. explore the possibilities
Learn more at careers.ti.comcareer types

19. over 100,000 products in multiple industries
TRANSPORTATION &
AUTOMOTIVE
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electric vehicles
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systems
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ultrasound
Blood pressure
monitor
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wind power
inverters
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communication
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controlsThin
client
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devices
Portable mobile
computing
COMPUTING &
COMMUNICATIONS
High-performance
computing
Base
station

20. our new college graduates will
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Connecting
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• A top-performing student
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We’re looking for…