Engineer. The word carries strong impressions. What words can you think of to associate or describe ‘engineer?’ I will throw out some. Smart, precocious, intelligent, socially awkward, nerd, math and science, knowledgeable, maker, affluent to wealthy, analyst, problem-solver. In my early career, it was intriguing to find that engineers made up a significant percentage of CEOs, executives, and top business leaders.
CEO Magazine titled a recent article “Why are most CEOs Engineers?” Statistics can be skewed and interpreted many ways, but the gist is engineers understand systems and can actually make excellent executives, because of their background, way of thinking, and determination.
I had lunch with a friend this week and he made a common comment about going to college and becoming an engineer. I submit a different scenario. By the age of 16, most who pursue the path are already an engineer. It is a mind-set, a way of thinking, a way of understanding how the world works. Then they go to college to get credentialed, to hone skills, and broaden their interest area. Some do not even finish and may have a related degree.
As a professor of electrical engineering, we had an observation. The lower group won’t let you help them, the middle group are the ones to which you can contribute the most, the upper group you cannot and try not to screw-up. By the time we saw the students, they had already determined and demonstrated where they were going. Because of the acceptance criteria of the University, we mostly had top-notch students, but the distribution still held.
It was awesome to watch the skills and abilities of these under twenty-two year old budding wunderkinds. They do not know what they cannot do. Much of the way out creativity of the field is from the under forty set. As everyone matures, we lapse into experience. That is a wonderful thing, but does not push the limits of the knowledge base. […]
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