Continuous learning: The perfect hedge against life’s uncertainties

In an ideal world, one’s life trajectory follows a linear path where goals are perfectly aligned and immutable over the course of time. In reality, our paths are punctuated by countless changes, and diverge into complex tendrils rather than flow along a single thread. SMU Master of Communication (MCM) alumni Foo Kai Yen, for example, has a Bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering, trained to be an educator, and worked as an engineer. But the lack of a relevant background did not deter her from pursuing a different professional track. Instead, she was spurred to further her studies to fuel her new ambitions.

“I began my career in the research and development of products in cleanroom environments,” relates Kai Yen, who is now a product manager at Excelitas Technologies Corp.

“Years later, I wanted to expand from building products, to promoting product features. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I should go about doing it at that time.”

Product management, as Kai Yen discovered, is a specialised discipline that requires in-depth understanding - not only of a product’s specifications, but a customer’s needs and long-term business objectives. Truly effective product managers are comfortably positioned at the intersection of business, technology, and user experience — and have the agility and empathy to communicate across multiple stakeholders to achieve successful outcomes.

At Excelitas, a purveyor of high-tech photonics products, such as optics & optomechanical assemblies that are critical to imaging functions of semiconductor, biomedical & space satellite systems, (like the glass used on satellites and solar reflectors) Kai Yen is well-versed in the technical expertise required to manage precision engineering processes and the data analysis of product solutions. In addition, she also serves as the main channel of communication between Europe and local cross-functional teams, as well the key stakeholders of medical products under her portfolio that span business, engineering, supply chain, production, and quality departments.

“Migrating from technical engineering to product management has propelled my career into a new world, where dexterity with figures alone was no longer sufficient,” notes Kai Yen.

“In the current era, where multi-dimensional decision-making processes are leaning towards a data-driven approach, how are raw and cold data transformed into meaningful patterns and trends? How do we build a story around those trends, so that audiences that are less statistically and technically inclined can relate to them?”

The MCM programme converges the ability to manage communication across various stakeholders, shape strategic management through communication, and make data-driven decisions into a cohesive toolkit to tackle today’s business challenges. As such, Kai Yen is empowered to weave compelling product narratives accessible to potential customers from various backgrounds, rather than overwhelm them with excessive technical jargon and information. Such a competency is essential in balancing the interests and needs of multiple stakeholders and motivate them towards win-win strategies.

In the field of product management, the need to upgrade one’s competencies is made more essential by an endless deluge of technological advancements and business disruptions. Kai Yen, therefore, compares upskilling to the evolution of the humble watch: In the past, the analogue watch had a single task: to tell time. As technology advanced, analogue watches transformed into digital watches that do a lot more. Today, smartwatches have become our daily companions by telling time, answering calls, monitoring our health, and even paying for purchases.

Lifelong learning has also been an area of personal passion for Kai Yen, who was inspired to continuously gain new skills during her days as a teacher. Over the years, she participated in short courses offered by local universities as a form of “annual wind-down breaks” from work. Just like how yearly vacations reinvigorate the senses, she found such pursuits of knowledge to be refreshing and rewarding, with the bonus of being able to glean insights from fellow course-mates to broaden her worldview.

Beyond personal growth, Kai Yen attributes her decision to further her studies as key to her success in mitigating pandemic-driven challenges at work. For example, she was able to immediately apply learnings from the MCM programme on the job: She proactively disseminated essential data and risk assessments to external stakeholders even before requests for such information were made, mentally preparing her colleagues and customers for potential disruption upfront.

“In times of unforeseen circumstances, how do we communicate and manage the information flow among various stakeholders, to maintain their confidence and trust?” says Kai Yen.

“It couldn’t be timelier to graduate with fresh knowledge from MCM, during a period of disruption brought on by the global pandemic. I am equipped with the confidence and skills to effectively navigate the pandemic with my stakeholders. Together, we created positive outcomes for my organisation and our customers.”