It is easy to look at a finished DORIX lock and credit the designer or perhaps the engineer.
But in reality, a flawless product is not the result of a single “genius”. It is the result of a chain of custody that must remain unbroken for months.
I often teach my team about the Risk of the Baton Change.
In a relay race, the runner rarely drops the baton while running. The drop happens during the handover.
Business is identical.
Design must hand over a file that Manufacturing can actually build.
Manufacturing must hand over a unit that Software can successfully flash.
Logistics must hand over a box that Sales can promise will arrive on Tuesday.
If any one of these handshakes is weak, the customer does not see “bad logistics”.They see a “bad company”.
We do not view our company as separate departments living in silos. We view it as a single, continuous timeline.
The role of the CEO is not to do the work. It is to ensure that the friction between these handovers is zero.
The designer must think like a machinist. The developer must think like a customer support agent.
When the walls between roles come down, the quality of the product goes up.
