Alex: I built a materials team from the ground up that does not think, look, smell or act anything like any materials team I’ve ever worked with in the past.
That was because I basically said, “We don’t need a materials team. Our product manager should be good enough to do this.” Well, be careful what you wish for. When you get promoted, and you are the materials expert, they go, “Now YOU go build the team, because you said you didn’t want us to do it!”
That’s been really challenging, but very rewarding. And I’ve got a fantastic team in place that I’m hopefully going to be able to now step back from the day-to-day work and materials, and say “You guys can do this. I’m managing all the key supplier relationships. I’m here. I’m attending the weekly meetings. You guys do your thing.” That’s eating a ton of time. But it’s very innovative in the thought process of structuring it differently.
