In hardware, my first engineering jobs were basically to be the full time fixer. Find issues in the field, diagnose, make necessary changes and ship it. I was the guy who didn’t like fixing other people’s mistakes, but with what I know now, those experiences were foundational.

Fixers see what can go wrong so they are more informed on how to do it right.

Fixers understand the Pareto principle, what we need to do now to fix what’s in front of us vs what’s better left for when we have three luxury to put a bow on it.

Effective fixers work professionally under pressure, communicate well, cut through the BS.