Engineering Perfectionism

It has been a great week for 'sticky' discussions on the LinkedIn engineering forums.

One topic in particular topic attracted quite a diverse and interesting following. It was started on a fresh new group - The GradEng Network.
[A group dedicated to building relationships between graduates, and sharing job search opportunities]

7 Reasons Why Perfectionism is a Barrier to Success.

I have my own interpretation of the key points made;

1. Unrealistic Expectations. No. Perfect does not equal millionaire! Who believes that? We live in a world where being perfect gets you a mediocre life. Investments of time, emotion, and money are made in imperfect people. People who have potential. Graduates need not be perfect... they need to have aspirations and demonstrate that they can grow as individuals and Engineers.

2. Make no Mistake. We all do. Think about this. If you are required to push a design to its limits, then you need professional back up. These checks help you sleep at night, and ensure the public are safe too. Dealing with domestic projects day in day out, I concentrate on buildability. There is no point in me designing a beam into a singularity if installing becomes impossible. Level the playing field, by accepting that their are potentially hundreds of ways of solving same design problem. None are wrong, and mistakes are easily rectified. Give it a try.

3. Seek no help. No man, woman or Engineer is an Island. I took great confidence from the fact that one day I was asked personally to help out a very experienced Engineer. He was stuck for ideas, and decided to enquire as to my strategy on a quirky problem. We both learned an awful amount that day I'm sure. From that day on I never felt embarrassed to ask questions, even off of newly qualified graduates. The beauty of design is that imagination and experience combined leads to so many cool possibilities... embrace that fact.

4. Planning. The process of planning is critical. Trust me, life never turns out exactly as planned BUT... without a plan you can't readjust your bearings and set you course back on track. An air-plane spends [apparently] 85% of its flight time off course. But, it always reaches its intended destination.

5. No Change. Quite the opposite. To be successful, we all have to accept that change is afoot. Constantly. Seems counter intuitive right? Once you accept that iterative failure is your only way to achieving a good result, life and learning becomes spontaneous and.... well, fun.

6. Future Focus. Now, I do not wholly agree with this point. You got to have a vision! That's your end game! Organise it in you mind then put it to one side. Once you got a plan, then build a strategy to reach it, piece meal style.

7. Lost in Detail. OK, let's get one thing straight, getting lost in the detail does not result in total failure!! It may inhibit future growth if you constantly return to that default setting, but failure it is not. On the contrary, it is those of us who fail to pick up on the nuances of the details in front of us who come to a sticky end. There is a time for laser like focus. There is a time to evaluate the surrounding environment. Balancing those points of views is critical to success.


Engine[er]