Flex Community (FC) Uncensored

Homer1952

I have been part of a sometimes parochial discussion on the merits of V3.  Although V3 is not for me, the openness of the FC operated by Flex, deserves kudos.  At no time did I or others (I hope) feel that their voice wasn't heard.

I have been on IO & Yahoo groups where the owners want to quell any reasonable dissent way too quickly.  Now I see that a non complaint IO group may open up.

Complaints are a major way OEMs learn about their products.  It is one way to be on the continuous improvement path.  In my old job, I would call owners to interview them on why they were dissatisfied in hopes that I could resolve their issue or refer it to our engineering group for resolution.  Many times the complainers would find field problems before they became major issues.

So thank you Flex.  I hope you keep the communication channels open to all & not to just those who are happy with the way things are.  That would lead to stagnation of the Flex portfolio.  I very much want Flex to be successful, even though I may have a critical comment from time to time.

Best - Bob W8RMV

Lawrence Gray

Bob,

I am in complete agreement with you.   SmartSDR has issues that I feel need to be resolved.  I don't believe I have ever been less than civil in any of my posts.  I understand that issues I consider important may not rise to the top of the FlexRadio development/update list.  I have no issue at all with paying $199 for a major update.

I do think it is very important that Flex owners be encouraged to make suggestions, raise issues, and repeatedly ask for existing issues to be fixed.  I know that there are a relatively large number of Flex owners, who are not primarily contest operators, whose relatively simple to correct issues have not been addressed.

Diluting the discussion of these and other issues by adding another forum is not helpful.  I ignore the folks who choose to be combative or defensive and, instead, concentrate on the many helpful and interesting posts on this community.   We should encourage every Flex owner to participate actively in this forum, so we may all benefit from our collective wisdom and experience.  We should never resort to immature "flaming" of anyone's post.  When someone does behave in an immature, impolite manner, we should simply ignore that person--never respond to such a person.

Like you, when I was operating my company I regularly called customers.  Every week, I picked 2-3 customers from the previous week's shipment list and called them.  The customers were surprised to receive a call from the head of the company.  It is amazing what you can learn by simply taking the time to listen to your customers.

Larry, W1IZZ

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

Very well said Bob.

I will agree by pointing out just how many failures and even tradegies occur when
mgmt silences complaints, or when you have a culture that silences complaints;

+  Space shuttle lost since NASA mgmt ignored worried engineers about the ambient
    cold temps outside and the rubber O-rings on the solid rockets.

+  Korean Airline crash at San Francisco that was basically out of proper control/alignment
    for 25 miles before the crash, but a cultural belief that raising your concern would be
    seen as dis-honerable kept the other two officers silent.

+  Amtrack rail crash in Northern California where engineers and staff were telling mgmt
    the new track and ordered speed were not safe since there had not been enough testing
    and training, yet mgmt forced the start, and the train flew off a curve.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.   When we ignore complaining people, bad things
tend to happen.    When we instead listen to complaining people, better operations and 
products result.     Of course, as Flex and anyone with experience knows, there is a balance.
I suspect they are working to find theirs right now.

Cheers,

Neal

Bernie W7DMC

Neal. Fully agree with you. Flex needs (and I believe wants) to hear about the concerns of current and prospective customers. What they, or most of us, do not need to hear is the personal attacks which are hurtful and nonproductive. And, with respect, were you referring to the Amtrak crash outside Olympia WA ? It has resulted in them using the old route along Puget Sound which is truly spectacular. Very sad that it involved the loss of life. Flex-On. Bernie