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Comment by thecleaner | Hacker News Reader

Dont put accountants in charge of engineering heavy companies.

Boeing has a new CEO - Kelly Ortberg who has a mechanical engineering background.

He's starting with some big challenges - the company just posted a $1.4bn loss, has possibly stranded a pair of their test pilots in orbit, an airliner that can only be described as "probably OK but we're not totally sure", union unrest over the Charleston factory, and the Secret Service is upset over delays and cost overruns on the next Air Force One 747s.

As they say - the only place he can go from here is up.

Boeing can definitely go down further, and in fact I expect it, given the inertia of a huge business that has bled a lot of talent.

Just look at Intel.

Are there businesses (other than accounting) where they should be in charge?

Some of the worst mistakes at Boeing were made when engineers were at the helm. This problem won’t be solved with truisms.

Interesting. Examples ? I think its good to be aware of these blindspots.

Mullenberg was an aerospace engineer [1]. Two before him was Stonecipher, a physicist [2], who took over from Condit, another engineer [3].

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Muilenburg#Early_life...

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Stonecipher#Early_life...

[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_M._Condit#Education

Moreover, what many consider Boeing's glory days were largely had under a CEO that was lawyer, not an engineer.

The problem is not engineers, it's short term profit above all.

I've heard of a few more companies who are bleeding engineers and selling off parts to fill the deficit but still keep the divident payouts and stock buybacks rolling as that's the most important of all.

If the dividend and buybacks keep the stock high for now and you're paid in RSUs, and you're likely to make it to the next vest, this is wholly rational behaviour.

Also making planes is capital intensive. Ignoring returns is a path to ruin.

Right. Accounting is a cost center in any business other than accounting firms. Accountants are never in charge of anything. Rabid cost-cutting MBAs on the other hand....

Look at Intel. They put an engineer in charge.

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