When I saw that James Cameron was going to be the day two speaker at SolidWorks World (2010), I thought to myself, pretty good timing considering he is the hottest director with the hottest film out right now. But, how in the world is this going to relate to CAD and engineering? Turns out he is very knowledgeable about the design process and is quite the technologist. He gave a pretty relevant discourse on technology, process, and team building. I sincerely doubt he has ever used SolidWorks but he certainly can appreciate the end results an application like SolidWorks can produce.
Mr. Cameron is very enamored with 3D (obviously) and has developed some pioneering technologies on several fronts. He also was a Tool and Die machinist in college so he has the roots. He ended with three things he tells his design teams at the beginning of projects:
- Hope is not a Strategy
- Luck is not a Factor
- Fear is not an Option
Sounds like a pretty cool T-Shirt, but his point was you have to prepare to succeed, and if you do this well, you should be able to push limits and feel secure. As I walked the floor of the vendor pavilion, I was struck by how many companies offer directly competing software to SolidWorks themselves, and how open SolidWorks is to allowing these companies to exhibit and participate in the SolidWorks partner program. I had the opportunity to discuss this with some SolidWorks executives and some partners and they all indicated how willing SolidWorks was to open their platform and let the market decide on the best solution. SolidWorks feels that in this way the customers benefit and all parties are driven to create better solutions for the market. I have experienced this first hand at Zero Wait-State. We were welcomed into the partner program even though we have been a reseller for direct competitors the past several years and the SolidWorks organization has been extremely helpful. We were able to meet with top resellers to discuss our solutions and they were excited about the prospect of working with us; we were able to meet with executive level personnel at SolidWorks to discuss what types of features and products we could develop to be more valuable to the SolidWorks community. Obviously I prefer to work with companies that want to work with us and I think this has a long term impact on a company's success. It is very difficult to be all things to all people and the more willing you are to partner with other companies to ensure your client's needs are met, the better customers are served. I think it is also in the spirit of a free market that usually results in superior products through competition. Other’s approach to partnering stifles competition and results in inferior solutions for their customers, which I think hurts both parties. We will continue to try and engage with vendors in the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) space to offer superior integration solutions to allow our clients to benefit from best-in-class solutions regardless of the vendor.
Overall, our first visit to SolidWorks World was very educational. We learned a lot about how SolidWorks has been able to establish a significant user base despite having less advanced solutions. Their user interface and customer focused approach have won them a loyal community of users and partners. I think their collaborative approach to partnering strengthens their solutions through competition and delivers stronger and more varied solutions to their clients. So it is now clear to me how James Cameron is relevant to SolidWorks. Hope is not a strategy when it comes to engaging with their customers. They don't hope they will like the software they develop. They work closely with them to make sure they are addressing their needs through solutions like the Brainstorm program I mentioned in my previous post. Luck is not a factor in their success. They have deliberately pursued an approach that delivers solutions that their customers want through listening to partners and customers. Fear is not an option for SolidWorks. They welcome competition from their partners which helps all parties develop great solutions for the client. So if James decides he doesn't want to make blockbuster movies anymore, he can always go work for SolidWorks. I think these lessons are valuable for any company and I will make sure we keep our customers’ best interest front and foremost as we go forward.
[Edit: re-post from 2010] 
