Pros

Really cool products. Fun, challenging problems to solve. Great team atmosphere among organizational peers. Many really talented employees, and an excellent manager or two.

Cons

Lots and lots of hard work, with very little thanks. Creative and innovative engineers are stifled in an overly political and sometimes hostile work environment. Management is not willing to accept responsibility for the consequences of their decisions. Too many decisions are made trying to have their cake and eat it too. The schedules are unrealistic and the stress of meeting unreasonable deadlines is downloaded onto engineering.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want to make more innovative, leading-edge products, cultivate an environment where creative expression is welcomed and praised, instead of instituting mind-numbing, ill-informed processes which allow the dead weight to further entrench themselves in the organization. Build time for innovation and learning into product schedules. Find out what makes your engineers tick and use that information to leverage their full potential.

One last thing, just because you say something, or put it on a slide, doesn't mean its true, or will just happen. Back up your words with a solid strategy and personally ensure it is put into action!