Motivation

Everyone likes lists.  It gives people something to agree with, or to disagree with.  So here's my list of things that motivate me at work.  What's your list?

1.  A Challenge.  Preferably I'd like a technical challenge, but ultimately I'll take anything.  I guess I'm competitive in some respects.  So I'll take the challenge to improve a customer relationship, make a business process work better, or have the the cleanest work area.  Just give me something that someone says can't be done.

2.  Ownership.  I've got to feel like I'm working on something that I own.  Something I can improve, without someone telling me not to do it that way, or that I'm not allowed.

3. Learning.  I love to learn new things.  I can be happy doing almost anything, as long as it's mine, it's challenging, and I'm learning something new.  Once I feel like I've mastered it (or learned all I care to), I get bored very quickly.  I'm not really one of those guys that likes to know what he's going to be doing tomorrow, and the week after that.

4. Respect of my peers.  I don't need much recognition, especially from my management.  I figure that just keeping me around means they are happy.  And to be honest, I think I have a better idea than they do of how well I'm performing.  However, I do value the respect of my peers.  "Good job" from a peer means a lot more to me than high praise from an executive.

5. Remuneration.  Yeah, money.  This is a tough one for me, because frankly, it doesn't motivate me like it does some people.  I had an "ah hah" moment many years ago as I became involved in the salary reviews of all the engineers at my former employer.  As a young engineer, I was in the unusual situation of seeing all the salaries of my peers.  At first it was difficult to deal with seeing this, and my relative position.  But as I came to understand how the process works (and I think has to work for the most part), I realized that using salary as a measure of satisfaction was always going to be a losing proposition.  From then on, I only had one criteria for my salary: was I satisfied with it (regardless of the market, or what anyone else was being paid.)  However, over the years I have received several "bonuses"; some of them quite substantial.  When that happens, I feel very appreciative and motivated to perform my best, as a matter of gratitude.

So, what motivates you?  I'm convinced that we need to do a better job understanding and responding to people's motivations, and engineers in particular.  There's the perception that it's all about money, but I'd like to know where that fits in your list of motivational factors.

Outsourcing

Several years ago there was a book that came out by Thomas L. Friedman called The World is Flat.  It was about globalization, which I view as something like a glacier.  It's move toward us, and sometimes it might feel as if it is happening very slowly, but in reality it is moving at a rapid pace.  We work with global partners on a daily basis. I am of the opinion that this makes our leadership and management skills all the more important, as we are asked to oversee engineers working in Russia, India, or wherever.  Communication skills are not always a strong point for engineers.  But when there are thousands of miles and multiple time zones in the mix, it makes it all the more difficult.  But it will become increasingly difficult for US engineers to compete with the multitude of engineers graduating from China and India every year.  I believe our best opportunity to succeed in this environment is to maintain the highest level of technical expertise, and to develop our leadership skills.  As globalization continues, rudimentary engineering tasks will be offloaded, and it is only the highly technical, high risk engineering that will remain in the US.  But at the same time, there will always be a requirement to oversee and manage the offloaded work.  Sometimes this will involve exotic (and not so exotic) locations around the world.  Globalization can be as much of an opportunity as it is a challenge, if we approach it with the right attitude and the right plan.

Anonymity Has a Name

Okay, here's the deal.  Everyone wants to practice safe blogging and remain anonymous, which is great.  But it makes it hard to carry on an on-going dialog when there are multiple comments all from "Anonymous."  So, it would be GREAT if you could get a Google Account.  Then you can create your own new SECRET IDENTITY (WorldzBestEngineer, AeroSpaceGoddess, FreeBodyKing, etc.)  To make it easy for you, I've added a link just under the blog header.  And of course, it doesn't have to be a Google Account, there are several other options.

Cross Links

Just FYI, here is a link to another blog I maintain as time allows:

http://spoughton.blogspot.com/

Speaking of Leadership....

SS2 First Feathered Flight

Follow this link to see one of the most incredible things I have ever seen.  Can you imagine this concept being recommended in a typical aerospace firm?  I don't think it would have made it off the drawing board.  Thank goodness there are people like Burt Rutan that don't follow the rules, but make their own.

Engineering, Leadership or Both?

Some of the discussion I've seen on the last few posts has started me wondering if I am treating two separate things as if they are one.  I am very passionate about leadership and engineering, and to me, they have always been closely linked.  Now I'm beginning to question if this is my own personal construct, or if there are objective reasons to think of them as related, or at least complementary.

The case for engineers as leaders should be self-evident.  We've received the education and training to think critically and logically in all situations, and often we are in the best position to determine the optimum course of action.  At the same time, I can't deny that many engineers maintain such a narrow focus that they can't make judgements that affect anything outside their own area.  Additionally, we are notorious for ignoring anything we can't quantify, leaving us with potentially fatal blind spots.

So to be fair, I have to admit that I see a lot of engineers that don't seem to have what it takes (or any interest in) being "traditional" leaders.  By "traditional," I mean the kind of leaders that we usually think about when we hear the term: Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Theodore Roosevelt, Steve Jobs.  But that's not the whole story, because I believe everyone has the potential (and obligation) to lead themselves.  But I don't think we are doing a great job in that arena.  This is where we can take greater responsibility for our own work: cost, schedule and quality.

Personal ownership equals self-leadership.  I think everyone can and should live and work this way, and I see a lot of room for improvement in this area within our profession, especially we more experienced engineers.  What do you think?  Do you see anything similar in your work?  Should all engineers be leaders?  Self-Leaders?  Or is it acceptable to be a "technical expert" that needs to be told every priority, and managed constantly?

High-Priced Consultants or Team Members?

One of the biggest issues that I see facing engineers in our industry is a tendency to come across as consultants, rather than as part of a team.  This manifests itself a lot of different ways, but a lack of ownership is what really strikes me.  We don’t even take ownership of our own issues, much less the broader issues of the program.  I think that is a real pity.  Not only does the program suffer, but we are reduced in the process.

I view engineers as problem solvers.  But we seem to be extremely selective about what problems we are willing to address, as if we are afraid of getting our hands dirty.  So someone fills the void; almost always someone less capable and less trained in critical thinking.  Then we get to sit back and complain about the poor decisions made by management.  And better yet, we get to use those poor decisions as our excuse for all the milestones we will miss.

At least this is my perspective.  I’m constantly hoping to see engineers step up and lead cross-functional teams, speak up about a quality or tooling issue, or make recommendations on how to address a contracts issue.  I know we are capable of doing it, but we seldom do.

Does anyone else see it this way?  Does anyone else feel that engineering is choosing to play a secondary role, to the detriment of our companies, and ultimately our own interests?  If so, why are we doing it?  And if I’m wrong, help me see it the way you see it.