Positive Thinking for Engineers

Date Written:
Wednesday 5th May 2010

Content Author:
Edmund Neil

Transcribed By:
Benjamin Jeffrey Parkin

Keywords

engineering, psychology, time management, positive thinking, design

Content Overview

As the responsible entity for the technical results of an engineering project, an engineer must
possess the ability to be disciplined in their project work. This not only includes their time
management and the method of approaching a project but also includes their positive thinking, or
lack thereof. This paper will seek to address this overlooked aspect in the life of a professional
engineer.
Three aspects of an engineer's work which will be influenced by positive thinking. Firstly, the way
they approach a project's design. Secondly, how they encourage or discourage the efforts of their
project team. Thirdly, how they learn from mistakes of a past project and correct these in readiness
for their next project.

Regarding a project's design, there are two approaches seen in companies producing technical
projects. There is the 'hacking' approach and the systems engineering approach. With the hacking
approach an engineer will attempt a number of solutions to a problem using the method of trial and
error. They will attempt these solutions before understanding or even defining the problem to be
solved. They may succeed once or twice using this method due to the repetitive nature of many
industries. Knowledge they have gained from working hands-on in a previous project may enable
them to solve a new but similar problem by simply changing slightly the previous method of
solving a problem. There are many problems with this method. The solution may not be understood
fully as the engineer may have never understood the previous project's work they have copied. The
engineer may take shortcuts in order to apply their previous knowledge to the new project. This will
mean the customer ends up with a solution which is difficult for them to adjust should their needs
for the product change in the future. There have been many examples when an entire software
project has been thrown into the trash-bin because the only person who understood the code was the
person who originally wrote it. If that person leaves the company or forgets why they had a certain
section of code in the first place then their entire effort will be wasted.

As all good engineers know, the systems engineering approach solves all of these problems.
Systems engineering will ensure the project will have a specification which matches the customer's
current and future needs and the project will produce usable documentation and a technical solution
which will be understood and adaptable. Why do many engineers then attempt to 'hack' a solution?
In a word, laziness. The systems engineering approach requires discipline and will result in many
setbacks for the engineer because the solution will not be easy. If the engineer has a low opinion of
their ability they will seek to hack a solution because that approach results in some level of
satisfaction in seeing something 'actually work' immediately. Of course if they copy work they have
previously done or which is off-the-shelf they will find that they have something working almost
immediately. However the systems engineering approach requires that the specification is written
accurately, that technical aspects and functionality are defined and that the solution space is left
wide open. This must all take place before the actual physical project work even begins! Many
engineers enter a 'spiral of depression' in their project work because previous projects have not
worked completely due to their undisciplined approach. Giving up on projects becomes
successively easier because they have entered a pattern of giving up. The solution is to engage in
positive thinking about a project, have faith that the systems engineering approach will work in the
end, have more faith that no problem in unsolvable (at least one which a customer will have) and go
for it! As an engineer finds success with the disciplined approach to project work they will work
themselves out of the spiral of depression and work up to better and better things.

The influence of a postie thinking engineer on their project team is enormous. As with many human
endeavour there exist leaders and followers. The followers in the case of a project may be
tradespeople, office staff and the customer. If an engineer does not have faith in their own ability
then how can they expect that the rest of the project group will feel motivated to work well? That
said, it would be silly for the engineer to delude themselves regarding their ability. An engineer
must have positive thoughts in order engage in the faith required of systems engineering. Once they
have one successful project they will find it easier to succeed in the next project and so on. All the
while their knowledge is building up, and the knowledge which they are gaining is useful
knowledge as they are not 'hacking' a solution but rather are following a disciplined approach which
leads to understanding of sound, repeatable and predictable engineering principles.
Positive thinking can turn the worst failure into the success of the future. Of course if a project does
not meet the planned schedule or fails in meeting its cost target the human response is to be
disappointed . However large and long projects require many failures in order to meet with a final
success. Any project will be competing in terms of time and money with other projects undertaken
by competing companies. If the envelope is not being pushed in terms or time or money, better
safety or reliability then capitalism is not working in the engineer's industry and maybe illegal
collusion is taking place! The ability to quickly pick oneself up after a failure and learn from it is
the only correct response. Any other response (wallowing in self pity or procrastinating) will be
seen as an inefficiency and the engineer can expect heir desk will be given to another engineer who
will not wallow or procrastinate. Being inefficient is stealing from the community at large as
inefficiency requires other workers to work longer to maintain the same level of industrial output.

Positive thinking is a vital component in the making of a good engineer. If an engineer has the
technical ability after years of experience performing successful projects then they will be a great
engineer. If such an engineer possesses a good character in addition to this then they will be the
leader in their area of engineering and they will have the ability to improve many people's lives as
well as their own.