Try building something new… But remember to persevere

Building something new or improving something for the greater good is hard. There is always the gravity of dogma. Things are the way they are for good reason. As engineers, we use existing systems and knowledge everyday. Sometimes we use existing systems and knowledge...

How to understand what kind of group culture you work in

What is the culture like where you work? How do you know how to articulate the kind of culture you work in? In the book ,”Tribal Leadership,” by Dave Logan, Halee Fischer-Wright, and John King, they broke it out into 5 categories. I read this book over 10 years ago,...

Henry Ford on Experts

Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company, had a lot of cool stuff to say. This quote, like a few others, has stuck with me.It is profound and has changed how I think when someone describes themselves as an expert. “None of our men are ‘experts.’ We have most...

The Speed of Implementation

Speed of implementation is a critical skill to foster if you want to grow your effectiveness as an engineer. As soon as you learn something, you need to practice it. Learn by doing; it’s easier said than done. Whether building competence through learning or generating...

On Human Ingenuity

Paul Zane Pilzer, an economist, wrote about patterns throughout history in the distribution of scarce resources. He identified a clear pattern: whenever a resource nears depletion, we humans use our ingenuity to solve the problem of scarcity. He described how...