– "Working hard" is valued more highly than "working smart", which cascades to many other problems. Demonstrating engineering progress itself is too often prioritized over developing scientific understanding. Clear hypotheses are seldom articulated before running experiments, frequently leading to inconclusive outcomes. Precision and nuance are often overlooked, and empirical knowledge / intuition / heuristics are relied on too heavily. Data is often undervalued, or analyzed improperly, or over-extrapolated and used to jump to improper conclusions. The desire for data to fit in with specific narratives (in the interest of hitting short-term goals) often overrides critical thinking in guiding decisions.
– Equipment/process/manufacturing design is done too hastily, preventing designs from being as robust as they could be. Sometimes relatively simple design considerations or constraints are overlooked due to a lack of oversight, planning, or coordination between teams.
– Goal-setting done by higher-ups is too often done in an arbitrary and demotivating manner. Management often seems too focused on hitting production milestones that distract from other work to make manufacturing processes more robust and reliable, which makes everything more stressful and difficult in the long run.
– Employee onboarding and training is a mess overall. Information that is critical for new employees to learn is poorly compiled or communicated, resulting in confusion for weeks and months. This is made even more difficult because expectations about individual roles for jobs are also unclear—people don't have a good idea of what others do, or who to turn to for help with a specific task / advice.
– Poor work-life balance—employees are overworked, period. They're asked (or pressured) to work long hours or on weekends/holidays, often without additional compensation. Burnout is commonplace.
– Generally poor team organization, resulting in a lack of follow-through on suggestions for improvements in project management, action items, or work priorities, especially in collaborative efforts.
