American Bobcat Blog

We are today in a worst situation than at the previous economic crisis in 2008. The Covid-19 pandemic which is a medical crisis actually turned into a huge economic emergency which is way much dangerous than the medical one. To be honest COVID-19 is not even dangerous. (but this is another topic which probably I will… Read more

COOPERATE or COMPETE? For me the year 2020 is the beginning of a new lifestyle. One step in our evolutionary process from now on would require that humans learn to be cooperative rather than competitive. Humans are naturally competitive. Since the days of cavemen, humans learned to survive by fighting, by being  at war with… Read more

The Supporting Roles Until now I talked about the basic roles essential to have in any company which has a business with Tech products. Again what I share here is my perspective about what I have learnt during my years in engineering, it might be not the perfect one but what’s I have seen so… Read more

When I first heard for the first time that me as product engineer have to collaborate with a guy holding the role of Product Marketing Manager I told to myself, “why the heck do I need this guy? What for?”. The Product Manager is already sufficient to tell me what’s going on on the market… Read more

In my early years I was (process) engineer myself, and I had to collaborate with the so called “experts” as Product Managers and Product Designers, the experience was good for me but unfortunately not good for them. So this is what I want to share with those of you who have never been engineers before,… Read more

Now after I’ve shared in the previous posts about the role of Product Manager, let me share with you now what I have learnt during the years about the role of Product Designer role,in which I am still acting today. I must admit that I am still learning about this as well and of course… Read more

In my previous post I was sharing my perspective about how to be a great Product manager which is a very important role for any company -particularly the ones in Tech-Products business. But anyway, I am a tech-guy so everything I talk about business has a connection with technology. This is what I do ,… Read more

At all my workplaces until now I had the opportunity to work with people in different roles involved in the product development stages such as Product Managers, Product Designers, Mechanical Engineers, Software & Hardware engineers, Marketing Managers and so on. But by far the most important role which I consider responsible for the market success… Read more

Principles of Strong Product Teams To continue with the principles of a strong Product team as I mentioned in the 1st Part, in order to have successful long-term business with Tech products the most important thing is to have THE RIGHT PEOPLE. And for that you must first build a strong team. Once the product… Read more

Principles of Strong Product Teams When I had my first job as engineer back in 2003 I had no idea what and how a product team actually does and also didn’t know WHY a Product team is the most important part in a long-term successful business for a tech company. During the years I started… Read more

THE KEY TO LASTING WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS As we’ve already seen in my previous post, decades of research reveal that the recipe for friendship is simple. Proximity, familiarity, similarity and self disclosure all play a role. The trick is to create the conditions that naturally foster these elements and integrate them into the work environment. After-work… Read more

Measuring workplace friendships is very important in any business for Nr. 1 reason: It’s one of the strongest predictors of productivity. Studies show that employees with a best friend at work tend to be more focused, more passionate, and more loyal to their organizations. They get sick less often, suffer fewer accidents, and change jobs… Read more

THE DARK SIDE OF HAPPINESS When we’re completely consumed with trying to be happy all the time, we overlook the value of unhappy emotions, such as anger, embarrassment, and shame. Those experiences may not feel very pleasant when they’re happening, but they exist for a reason. Negative emotions help direct our attention to elements of… Read more

Research shows that happy people tend to be more effective at their jobs. When we’re feeling good about our lives, we connect with others more easily, think more optimistically and free up valuable mental resources to focus on novel ideas. Happiness also breeds confidence. Positive moods make our situation feel more controllable, which can give… Read more

A PRODUCTIVITY BOOST STRONGER THAN COFFEE Let’s imagine this : You are in your office at work and it’s 2:14 p.m. your eyelids are feeling heavy, and now you’re stifling a yawn. A few minutes ago you arrived back in the office, fresh off a satisfying lunch. But  now you’re in the throes of what… Read more

HOW PLAY MAKES PROBLEM SOLVING EASIER I am sure that many of you already had some days at work , when you put a lot of focus to finish something very important than you literally skip all the breaks and you even work overtime, just to be sure that you make no mistake and to… Read more

WHY EMPLOYEES ARE OFTEN MORE PRODUCTIVE AT HOME Working from home is a concept which started to gain more and more popularity in companies from all sort of industries. Many people agree that “A workforce culture based on long hours at the office with little regard for family or community does not inevitably lead to… Read more

As we most of us working in an office, it is generally agreed that our performance at work is strongly shaped by our work environment. And one very important factor at workplace is How the Office is designed. Going back in time, some 50 to 55 years ago the typical office consisted of a vast… Read more

In general FAILURE is seen as something to avoid at all cost. We are very afraid to fail. At workplace, people are sometimes so afraid of making a mistake that they rather accept to be humiliated or micromanaged by their managers. Such employees accept to do whatever their manager ask (even in disagreement) than to… Read more

I could have written more about the fake life we have at workplace everyday. There is a lot o shit happening out-there but this is the last lie I write about. If you would ask 1000 people: why they work for a company?, more than 80% of them will tell you that it’s because they… Read more

Ok, this is a topic highly promoted mostly in the so called “multinational companies”. And at some points I would truly agree that indeed diversity can bring a big added value to any business. While the traditional notion of workplace diversity may refer to representations of various races, genders and religious backgrounds, today’s concept of… Read more

I’ve been in this situation a lot of times until now. I would say that I’ve been more rated than rater. But either way, this is the most impossible thing that a human can do to another human. Those at HR departments who think they will ever have any accurate results to such ratings, they… Read more

This is again something that many managers think so. They really thing that THE BEST PLAN ALWAYS WINS. Sometimes I just stay alone and ask myself, why the business world and (not only) is ruled by so many incompetent people which are easily promoted in management position without having done anything remarkable, except the fact… Read more

This statement is very common in many organizations. If you want to apply for a job which require a high qualification and offers you nice benefits in return, you will get first a long list of requirements from that company which is asking you to prove your competencies in as many of your future tasks… Read more

Again this is of course an illusion. It is a very big lie which most people are so brainwashed that finally they truly believe that it’s a great truth. No it’s not. It’s another fat mistake that an incredibly big amount of companies continue to use it in their business. Goals are the same like… Read more

No they don’t. It’s exactly the opposite = People DON’T NEED FEEDBACK. This is again something worth to be discussed.I am 100% sure that everyone of you at least 1 time per year give a feedback at work (either to evaluate someone’s performance in the same team or to evaluate someone from another team ). … Read more

Whaaat??? A Balance??? No it isn’t. I repeat what I’ve already said couple of times in my previous posts: Work is something people don’t want to do, but they still do it anyway because the system is made so to keep us wired and to be forced to work. There are exceptions of course but … Read more

First of all let me say it exactly how it is. Of course this is another big fat lie about work. The general truth is exactly the opposite = People DO NOT care for which company they work for. In fact, people in general don’t give a shit on that. AUDI, BMW, TOYOTA, MICROSOFT, GOOGLE,… Read more

I must admit that after working in industry for some years and seeing how companies work I can perfectly understand why many of them fail in business, some are failing dramatically. Or let’s say they literally go bankrupt. Why ? well… that’s very oblivious for me, I have no doubt that it’s due to huge incompetence… Read more

Dit gebeurt meestal wanneer je baas uit een andere cultuur komt dan jouwe en duidelijk hij denkt dat wat in zijn land van herkomst werkt, werk ook in het nieuwe land waar hij verhuisd is. Daarnaast gebeurt ook wanneer je baas geen internationale leidende ervaring heeft en natuurlijk hij spreekt niet de taal van jouw… Read more

What is an expat ?. Well I will define it like that: Theoretically It is a kind of expert send by a company to work temporary abroad (usually 3 to 5 years) in order to share his knowledge and in the same time to learn something new which can be valuated once she/he returns in her/his… Read more

De beste antwoord is: omdat hij ZELFVERZEKERD is. Ik kan bevestigen dat tenminste in automotive bedrijven is meestal zo. Dus, om de vraag op een andere manier te stellen: Waarom incompetentie in management tegenwoordig erg groot in bedrijven aanwezig is, en niemand praat erover? Nou…Dit is eenvoudig omdat zelfverzekerdheid vermomd als competentie is. In dit… Read more

This is not something new. Everyone in a working class today knows what I am talking about. Just type on Google „my boss is“ and immediately the following auto-complete options pop up : „crazy“, „mean“, „incompetent“, „ a control freak“, “bulling me to quit “ and so on. There are also a lot of opinions… Read more

When your friends are living in another country with different living standards  or even in the same country but in different cities, when the discussion about your job pops up, in many cases people ask you this question.  It doesn’t matter too much for many, if you are working on something  truly revolutionary or just… Read more