Get a Little Weird… Once in a While

You don't need to be defined by your job” 

      -  (Weird) Al Yankovic

I work with a lot of engineers.  Heck, I’ll admit it… I actually am an engineer.  One thing that I notice wherever I go, is that engineers can take themselves way too seriously.  Let me say that again… WAAAAAYYYYY too seriously.

I get it.  You guys are out there making important, difficult, highly technical decisions.  But, come on... lighten up a bit!  It’s not brain surgery.  Well ok, I work with some companies that actually make brain surgery equipment.  So maybe it is brain surgery for some of you.  

Nonetheless, let’s allow ourselves to have some fun along the way.

Sometimes when I’m meeting with new customers I challenge myself to see if I can get them to laugh or at the bare minimum; at least crack a smile.  This challenge silently takes place in the back of my brain where, hopefully, no one in the outside world will hear or know about it. 

Now some of you overly analytical engineers are probably saying: “why would I direct perfectly good brain energy toward doing something weird when I can direct it toward doing something productive like solving problems and making better __(insert gizmos of choice)______?”   

Here’s why:  having a light moment doesn’t use up more brain power… it actually taps into the part of your brain you probably aren’t using!  Did some of you realize that there is also a right side to the human brain?  This can unleash some really great creative stuff that can be re-channeled back to your real (a.k.a. engineering) work.

So how do we get started in terms of getting a little weird…

1. Try my challenge of “getting someone to smile” while staying generally on topic regarding an engineering task or project. 2. Put something ridiculous in your office and keep it there until someone asks about it.  If nobody asks, you may have a social problem and should go back and read all of my previous blogs! 3. If 1 and 2 are too challenging (perhaps because they involve interactions with other humans), try something weird on your own.  Do a weird experiment like this:   

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODBQ_BNjMA0

This kind of "pseudo-experiment" can be super-cool to watch... definitely something to invite others to come see.  It can energize your thinking and perhaps even lead to your next great idea.  I'll bet, after watching that video, some of you are already thinking about column buckling and internal pressures.

Do yourself a favor and do something weird today!

Rock on,

-          Mark

Take a Bow

Just about every engineer describes at least one part of his job as being “thankless”.  As a person who works in the measurement world I used to lament: “nobody wants to measure things, they just want to make stuff”. 

Boo, hoo.  Poor me. 




Designers cry how nobody appreciates their sheer genius and their amazing insight.  Production people moan about the struggles of deadlines and budget… and not to mention the ever present quality control pressures.

It’s a wonder that anyone would want to be an engineer…
…but you are one – and that says something about you.

So let’s take a look at the concept of feeling “rewarded”.  To shed some light on this I’d like to tell you about two recent conversations and an old, old story.

Conversation #1.
The topic of “the next generation of engineers” came up among some friends.  One of the guys was talking about a seminar that he attended on the topic of “managing millennials”.  It was interesting to hear of this topic.  Plus it was a catchy title – so I really tuned into what he had to say.  I’m not sure that I agree with all of the generalizations and stereotypes, but there was a general thought many people of the younger generation are growing up with a concept of “you get a reward for simply participating”.  This is indeed becoming a popular trend – the significance of winning and losing are being diminished and effort (or worse yet simply “being there”) is being rewarded.

Conversation #2.
I have a great graphic designer that I get to work with on occasion.  One day we were talking about the differences and similarities between creating software and creating art.  I told him that developing software can be incredibly engaging – it can be something like solving Sudoku puzzles for a living.  He chimed in, “I do a Sudoku puzzle every day on my lunch break!”

An old, old story…
You may have hear the expression “prodigal son”, or “the prodigal son has returned”.  The term is from a Biblical fable or “parable” (kind of like one of Aesop’s fables) which was used to illustrate a point.  The quick version of the story: 1. Son demands inheritance from dad.  2. Son blows inheritance on wine, women and song and hits rock bottom.  3. Son comes back asking for forgiveness.  4.  Dad welcomes him back and throws a party.  5. Brother get’s ticked off asking: “where’s my party?”

I used to take the brother’s side.  After all, where was his party?  However, the dad’s response to him was pretty insightful.  He said something to the effect of “your party is being here with me every day”.  The angry brother didn’t fully grasp that it was much more rewarding to be in a good place every day – rather than deal with the rough stuff that the prodigal brother went through.  Bottom line: the angry brother didn’t realize how good he had it.  He has the privilege of being in a good place.  He gets to be there all the time.

So let’s put the pieces together…

The engineering workplace can be rather thankless.  If you are used to being noticed, thanked and praised you may be in for a harsh surprise.  You may be sitting in a cubicle right now thinking about unrewarding your job really is.  Some of you might have grown up in a not-so-competitive culture and you aren’t used to the lack of “best effort” medals or stickers.  That’s ok.  It’s time for you to pull up your big engineer pants and create your own rewards.  Think about these things…

1. You get to solve puzzles for a living.  That’s a pretty cool job when you stop and think about it.

2. There are many jobs that could be much worse.  Elephants anyone? 

3. You can make your own rewards.  When you hit milestones or have personal victories – take a break.  Take a walk.  Have a coffee.  Grab a candy bar.  Do something to get away for a few minutes.  Call it a mini-vacation for 15 minutes.

4. Do your part to create a “culture of reward” around you.  When you see someone do something cool – acknowledge it.  One thing you will find is that when you start helping others feel good about their work, you will start feeling better and more rewarded yourself.  Who knows it may even rub off.

 

Remember this: you get to be an engineer.

Let's get ready to rock...

Person 1.     Wow, Frank sure is a jerk.

Person 2      Well, he is an engineer after all.

Person 1       Oh, that explains it.

Throughout my life as an engineer I’ve heard that kind of exchange numerous times.  In fact, having heard that kind of “he’s an engineer” exchange three different times in the past week I’ve decided it’s time to spill my guts on the topic.

Some people wear the title “Engineer” with great pride; and rightfully so – they’ve worked hard to earn that title.  Some have gone through many years of study in colleges and universities, other have done hard time in the school of hard knocks.  All are part of an elite group that society looks to as the ones who “make things happen”.  If you hold the title “engineer” I applaud you for your achievements and am excitedly waiting and watching to see your contributions to society.

Unfortunately, “Engineer” has a dark side.  To some, holding the title “engineer” seems to somehow give them the right to be a complete...   well, let's keep this to a PG-13 rating and say "jerk". 

So take this “am I a jerk of an engineer” quiz:

Rate the following statements based on the scale:

0 = totally disagree
1 = rarely
2 = sometimes
3 = I’m 50-50 on this
4 = most of the time
5 = totally agree

1.       I think that the world is full of idiots.

2.       The world would be a better place if everybody thought as I do.

3.       It doesn’t matter how I look or smell

4.       I don’t have to get input from those below me.

5.       I’m not going to dumb it down for you.  If you can’t understand, it’s your problem.

6.       Management is all stupid.

7.       I don’t care what the customer says.

8.       They’re late.  Even if they are important, I’m going to start without them.

9.       I’m really good at, and enjoy, finding flaws in other people’s work

10.   This test is a waste of time and none of these questions matter.

OK, I’m not going to do the “add up your scores” thing.  You are engineers and you should be able to take an average (especially since there are 10 questions).  So for scoring let’s just say if your average is anything over a 1.25, you need to stop and consider “are you really as effective as you can be?”.  If you are above the 2.0 level, you really need to assess where you are in terms of being a full-out, pain-in-the-butt-to-be-around jerk-o-saurus.

Let me say that again, if you rank high in jerk-icity, chances are you are not going to be effective as an engineer.  And here’s a hint – engineering is about “effectiveness”. 

I’m in the field of metrology – the science of measurement.  Thus to me, the concept of measurement is very important.  As a good engineer you rely on measurement.  Measurement provides data and data is stuff of decision making.  You may have seen the sign:

In God we Trust.  All others must present data.

So how do we measure an engineer?  What are the attributes that matter most?  In 17xx, Lord Kelvin said that which we measure, we can control.  So what attributes would you measure in an engineer and hope to control or improve upon?

Here are some thoughts:

Intelligence.  This is a great attribute for an engineer.  It’s pretty much a prerequisite for being an engineer.  But, intelligence alone doesn’t get stuff done.  In fact an over abundance of intelligence may come along with a bit of arrogance.

Creativity. This is a terrific thing and can help you get “out of the box” when solving problems and designing the next biggest thing.  But artists are creative (don’t get me wrong here – I love the arts), but most artists don’t make good engineers.

An analytical mind.  This is a tool that must be in every engineer’s tool box – the ability to look at things from different angles and perceive different realities and outcomes.  Unfortunately, too much of this can lead to the dreaded “analysis paralysis” and once again nothing gets done.

Thoroughness. This is another admirable trait.  By being thorough a good engineer ensuring that his or her products and projects will be complete, reliable, functional and that no detail will be missed.  Again we find the “too much of a good thing” syndrome when we look at the attribute of thoroughness.  Engineering is often about managing risk to find an optimal solution not an ideal solution.  Ideal solutions don’t generally exist.  Thus an over emphasis on thoroughness could ultimately cripple a project.

I would argue the each of the above traits are important, however they are all subservient to the greater measure of an engineer:

Effectiveness

Every attribute described above can ultimately suffer from the “too much of a good thing” syndrome.  However, effectiveness cannot suffer in this way.  The more effective we are, the better we ultimately are.

While being a jerk, you can attain some level of effectiveness.  However, if you want to see exponential effectiveness results and truly be a rockstar engineer, you need to start thinking outside the box in terms of several areas.  These areas are not related to chemical reactions, physical properties or mathematics.  They are related to human dynamics – something that isn’t generally taught in engineering schools.

Being a jerk means taking the easy way out.  Ignoring people takes less effort than engaging with them.  But just like Newton said – actions equal reactions.  If you invest in people there will, most likely be a reaction.  If you invest in breaking down relational barriers, your effectiveness can be improved through better relationships.  If you invest in your image, your outside perceptions can improve.

I want to challenge you to consider some non-engineering principles in the upcoming posts.  These are principles that can boost your “street cred” and ultimately help you skyrocket into engineering rockstardom.  These aren’t rocket science, but they do make scientific sense.
So let’s get ready to rock…