Teach Yourself How to Run: Part Eight [Boxing Day Families]

During my runs I do a lot of thinking about where I am going in life and business, and how I will manage to get there. On Boxing Day I decided to run my normal route through a golf course and along a disused rail embankment. Usually I pass the odd group of golfers, a man walking a dog and perhaps dodge a mountain bike or two.

Not this time though. In parts, It was like a veritable traffic jam - the majority of my route was heavy with families out having their pre-boxing day lunch walk. 

Whilst running past the walkers headed in my own direction, I noticed that I picked up pace and would sling shot past them. I had experienced this phenomenon before, but on Boxing Day this was particularly noticeable as I found myself running out of energy fast. Once fully passed the family groups, I allowed myself to slow down and conserve energy, only to increase my pace again once another group came into view. 

Gradually I realised that this has been my behaviour whilst running for most of my life. It appeared that it was easy for me to increase my pace whilst I had a target in my sights. Upon passing them, be they walkers, bikers or indeed runners during a race, I only continued at that pace for a short distance afterwards. Then I returned to my 'forever' pace. Conserving energy until the next tantalising target came into view. I would then plan how fast to approach them and how long afterwards I would maintain a top running pace in order to wear them down mentally and physically.

This all became a vivid realisation to me during that run. What's worse, is that I think I have been applying the same strategy throughout my life too. And I can't afford to do that anymore if I want to achieve something cool.

My fear is.... that I won't learn how to change my mindset, and to run at my free spirited pace when I'm not chasing someone else's tail, or when I feel that no one else is looking. It appears that I have been cheating myself at running for most of my life.

I set goals and I reach them, and I guess competitiveness is in my blood. Oddly as it may seem, it is this that is ultimately limiting my horizons. 

With that bomb-shell, I am going to wish you all a very prosperous and happy new year. May you achieve everything that you set your sights on - and more besides.

Engine[er]

Present buying? Engineer it.

Christmas is almost over for another year, and congratulations for surviving it intact. Or did you?

If you are anything like me, you may have failed miserably at the business end of the Christmas. The present buying. It's not that I don't 'get' or understand the needs of my other half, but I have concluded that when it comes to deciding what to buy, I am assaulted with too many options to make an accurate decision.

The question is, can I find a solution which may help me reduce the choices available?

Perhaps if we can firstly remove certain key variables? For instance, some couples set a ceiling to the amount of money which can spend on presents. By restricting the total spend you are solving a number of problems.

Since most presents really are not worth consideration unless you spend say £5.00, you are essentially restricting the amount of presents that you can buy. Also spending the bare minimum on every present does not offer up much of an opportunity to bestow upon your partner a fancy gift or two.

Therefore, I propose that the main present be determined [or enquired after] before shopping commences. It is also noteworthy to mention that blowing the entire budget on the main event is not preferable, as opening smaller, or lesser valuable presents is also part and parcel of a winning spread of gifts.

The question that remains is if you have set a price ceiling on the gifts [as determined by personal financial constraints], how much of that can you spend on the main event present? I propose that this is related to the amount of presents that you intend to buy. The amount of presents that you purchase must also be related to the amount of presents that your other half is set to receive from others. For example, if your girl friend is estimated to receive say 10 presents from her close family and friends, then this infers that you may be freed up to spend a larger proportion of the available funds on a single present.

Based upon the previous statements, I propose using the following algorithm.

First we must establish the number of presents which you should consider giving using the equation below:

Number of Presents N = [15-[A+0.5C+0.3P]] / 2

Where A = number of adults which are planning on giving presents to your partner.
Where C = number of children planning on giving presents to your partner.
P = number of pets in the household.

Always round down..

Once you have determined the number of presents, then simply apply this to one of the equations below:

Price Ceiling [£] x 0.75 and 0.25 for 2 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.60,  0.30 and 0.1 for 3 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.60, 0.20, 0.10 and 0.10 for 4 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.50, 0.15, 0.15, 0.10 and 0.10 for 5 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.45, 0.15, 0.15, 0.10, 0,10 and 0.10 for 6 presents

Example: Your partner is expecting presents from 4 adults, 2 children and the house contains no pets.


Therefore N = [15-[4+1]] / 2 = 5 presents.


The couple decided to spend only £75.00 on each other due to their financial situation.


Therefore each partner may spend up to £37.50 on the main present, £11.25 on 2 presents and £7.50 on the final 2 presents.

So there you go, use the equations wisely and perhaps you will have more luck than me next year. Well actually, I did try following the formulae - and I think that I decided upon the number of presents correctly.

Apparently cook books are still a no no though.

Merry Christmas and have a prosperous, and a very happy New Year!!


Engine[er]

What Engineers Want [Part Two] - Day in the Sun

Thanks for joining me for the almighty conclusion to a subject visibly heart felt by Engineers, the world over.

Pay & Status of Engineers. Or lack of.

I am not big on repeating time and time again the same debate until someone gives up. A war of attrition. It annoys me because no one seems to learn anything, and in the long run, no one wins. Trust me.

Sitting in the Mud Dock Cafe, near to the resting place of SS Great Britain had given me an inspirational shot in the arm to deal with our dilemma.

Dilemma for some, storm in a tea cup for others, and exciting realisations for a small group of us.

I don't agree that the pay is low. There is money to be made in structural engineering. There's money in any field and every type of career. You just have to be excellent at what you do and have a knack for business that goes along with it. You have to be driven by money to make money. [Structural Engineer]





Isambard Brunel was known for a great many things. If you are an Engineer or engineering student and haven't quite found the time to read up on some of the all time engineering greats [see my blog posts or #greatengineers on Twitter for a list] then do it. Do it now.

Quite simply we have a responsibility for the betterment of our industry, to learn about histories greatest engineers. I will one day bring a few to life in a blog post, but for today add this job to YOUR 'to do' list.

Brunel teaches us an large amount about how to overcome our concern for the perceived lack of appreciation [appreciation = money + status] of our profession.

During the mid 1800's existed an Engineer who was insatiable in his desire for the lime light. A shameless self promoter who created newsworthy spectacles over the entire country.

He profusely sacked poor and average performers, he put countless builders out of business before they knew what a real contract looked like. Above all he worked hard, so that he could keep all the professional accolades to himself.

Selfish and unstoppable? No. Selfish and partial to a mistake or two. Brunel struggled with continuous political in-house squabbling. Criticism from Architects and Engineers flooded in from the north whilst he built the great western railway in the south.

He status and knowledge was not beyond being sniped at either. In fact he built himself up so high that it became too easy to have a go at knocking him of his perch.

Luckily for Brunel, he is better known for his courageous spirit and engineering talent - rather than his failures and his susceptibility to stress and poor health.

So what has this got to do with our quest to understand why in society we as Engineers still feel like a square peg in a round hole? Why are some of us satisfied [the minority] and the rest of us are only satisfied to mutter discontent from the shadows?

Echoes of the Pareto Principle grows all over this discussion. This suggests that 80% of the value of our Institutions deliverables comes from a measly 20% of us. If you haven't guessed yet, we are the 'tail' end of that graph. Look it up.

We are holding on to an ideal. We think that we are doing more for the society today than we actually are .Yeah sure we take the risks. More importantly though, is we are actively taking on the risks. Why? It is in our education and upbringing.

The Profession of Structural engineer shall be compared to doctors. Each doctor's mistake cost people health or even life. The same can be said of the failure of structural design. Even small mistakes may cause big problems. It's risk, stress, pressure at work on daily basis.[Structural Engineer]





There was a time when we 'built the world', there was even a time when we 'rebuilt the world'. Don't misunderstand me, the engineering 'behemoths' like Arup and Atkins are still wowing the world at large. Mega structures like the Milau Bridge are testament to our professions engineering creativity. Question. Do you feel part of that community?

The good news is, even if you don't feel like part of that 20%, the engineering masses [like my good self], we are still able to bring value to what we do.

Perhaps we are guilty of under selling ourselves, or not even bothering to 'sell' our skills, but what we lack in taking advantage of the opportunities to reinforce our social ranking, we make up in grit and determination to do a mighty fine job.

I believe that more often than not, structural engineers are our own worst enemy. We have to understand what we provide and appreciate the importance of our service before we can expect our clients to do the same [Structural Engineer]

After digesting all the pleas made by our brethren, demanding that the 'ultimate umpire' call 'new balls' on our industry and the change the game for us, I came to realise that this will never happen easily. Well, not without tapping into some of that trademark grit, and innovative thinking that is...

The engineers which lead our industry into the new world are software engineers [Steve Jobs RIP], environmental engineers, product design and industrial engineers [Sir James Dyson]. These guys and gals will be aspiring to change the world around us. Invention by invention. Step by step.

We had our time in the sun.

Don't be despondent though. We have options. Our skill-set is still incredibly useful. It's quite exciting really, you all hold the raw abilities to apply our analytical and thoughtful design processes to business too. Some of us are already doing it. These guys and gals are making it happen and definitely not complaining about a lack of status. They are taking back our professional respect by doing good business.

Warning. I have witnessed signs of lack of caring for one another though. Perhaps this is a by-product of the frustration that our industry delivers to us, generation after generation. I implore you, we have to care and nurture one another too.

We have the technical skills, the motivation which we need to grow personally and professionally. So where's the frustration? We appear to have forgotten what the most important part of our industry is.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel needs YOU!

YOU, me and us.

I touched upon this point during a discussion a few days ago. It was mentioned that there were very little by way of barriers to engineering, hence we dilute our industry, generation after generation.

Wrong. This is so wrong. We have the ultimate barrier to success in our industry and it is us.

We are obligated to not only carry out our duties as technicians and engineers, but to train the next entourage of talent too. It is one of our Institutions promises to society, and the built environment. They take this job very seriously, and deliver, year in, year out. How? We do it for them.

So, my conclusion?

It has taken me 2 weeks of typing, retyping and a few sleepless nights to eventually feel comfortable with what i am about to say. I'm not afraid of the future. I am pretty excited to tell you the truth, and the as the dust settles on the poll, the discussions become more meaningful and emotionally charged.

The answer is correctly identifying our customer first. We know that our small scale works may well go unnoticed in the publics eyes. We live to be involved in a project which is enjoyed and marvelled at by generations. That one sexy project where our piers can finally recognise the hard hard work we put in... and it's just a pipe dream for most of us.

What if you were to look at it from a slightly different angle? What if you were able to train the next generation of world changing, and pioneering engineers? How would that make you feel? Good?

When I said that I had answers, I meant that I had a vision. If we were to stop being so self indulgent and blinkered only to our personal business aspirations and careers, then just imagine what we could achieve by sharing the responsibility of shepherding a new generation.

Can you you remember your first engineering job? I ask you this, do you remember the Engineer[s] who advised, and helped through your formative years? So do I.

Our customers? They are engineering graduates. We have to educate them, nurture them, and let them loose on the world. We also have to make a huge effort to make an impression on their lives.


Engine[er]

PS this post is likely to change slightly over the next few days. Keep checking back for comments and DEFINITELY read it twice before commenting. Do me proud.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel needs YOU!

You ever wondered what it would be like to own a Top Trumps pack full of the Greatest Engineers of all time? Yeah so did I. So I made this...

Top Trumps - The Greatest Engineers of all time

Well actually I created 35 of them. Each with their own statistics, but not wholly accurate at the moment. Since researching the lives of each and everyone of the chosen 35 Engineers lives or reading their biographies would have taken me years, then let's get a little bit of Christmas online collaboration going!?


[Stage 1]
I have already begun the task by naming the 5 attributes by which they are to be measured. Experience [in years], this represents the years which they were in the industry of engineering. Buildability [1-100], representing technical expertise. Creativity [1-100], how inventive and concerned they were with design subtleties. Business [1-100], did they run their own business? How successful were they? Inspiration [1-100], how well were they received by piers and the public. Did they inspire a generation?


If anyone has any better ideas, then please drop me a message!


[Stage 2]
The naming of the Engineers has taken me a small amount of research - and I did not want to name only Civil and Structural Engineers. Therefore I chose a representative sample of mechanical, product design, electrical and industrial engineers to cheer up the soiree a little. 
So here they are - please give me your input.
1.Isambard K Brunel    2.Sir Marc I.Brunel    3.Steve [Wozniak] 4.Sir James Dyson   5.Robert Stephenson    6.Eugene Freyssinet    7.Nikola Tesla    8.Archimedes    9.James Watt    10.Thomas Brassey    11.The Wright Brothers    12.Henry Ford    13.Thomas Edison    14.Leonardo da Vinci   15.Gustave Eiffel    16.Sir Henry Royce    17.Sir John Fowler    18.Othmar H Ammann    19.Sir Benjamin Baker    20.Anthony Hunt    21.Sir Ove Nyquist Arup    22.Alexander Graham Bell   23.James Brindley    24.Edgar Cardoso    25.Sir John F.Baker    26.Arthur Casagrande    27.Charles de Coulomb    28.Henry Darcy    29.Dr Oscar Faber    30.Clifford Holland    31.James Buchanan Eads   32.Joseph Locke   33.Thomas Telford    34.Fazlur Rahman Khan   35.Lillian Gilbreth

[Stage 3]
Once I have set the designs from the earlier stages, the final step [and most arduous] is to set some accurate levels for the each Engineer and their attributes. 
Doing this will take some effort. I suggest the best way to enable it is to set a maximum number of top level and lower level statistics. For example; only 5 individual attributes can be set at 100. We then decide which Engineer gets them. Then we set a total of 5 attributes at the lowest level of 10, and apply them to Engineers.


Finally we arrange each of the 35 Engineers in order of their perceived value for each available attribute. 

So please try this at home over the next few weeks of the holiday season. I will do the rest. 


Finally, the open poll and debate flooding the LinkedIn Engineering Groups dealing with Pay & Status will be concluded tomorrow [currently 99 votes / 88% voting not happy]. Watch out for that one.




Engine[er]




[update - Replaced Steve with Steve] Thanks Anon.

What Engineers Want [Part One]

[update - vote on the poll adjacent >>>]


The question of wages and status for engineers has long been a contentious issue. The debate has flowed as calmly as white water rapids down a canyon for as long as I can remember. Yet, a surprising amount of placid pools containing self assured and confident Engineering practitioners spring up from time to time. They also appear to be heavily confused by the other Engineers indignation. This is not just a mere remainder of indignant Engineers either, but a massive slice of them!

The value that society places on us is nowhere near the liability that we take on. An anonymous contributor to the engineering group discussion.

So why does such an intelligent, resourceful and clearly motivated group of Structural/Civil Engineers find it so compelling to only voice their opinions, and not act upon their desires or needs?

Is it not enough to remind everyone that when a poll returns a result which demonstrates a vast majority [90%] of our industry colleagues voting "no, we are not happy with our status, no we are not happy with our wages", then are we not obligated to do something, anything, to make it right? Even if you voted YES?!

Those of us who believe that we are being fairly remunerated, also think that it doesn't matter whether we believe that we need more respect or not. Their point is that we do not have the power to change a market place, and since our wages and status are governed by this insidious power - then why waste time and energy by bothering to talk about it. 

Rates are based on the old saying of supply and demand. As the construction industry has slowed, the demand of engineers has also fallen. We need to look at how we can also make a difference to improving our economy, or move to more lucrative pastures. An anonymous contributor to the engineering group discussion.


Some quite polarised views. What is happening here?

I would say that there has always been a smaller, dwindling number of us willing to work harder at our individual problems. Dealing effectively with life's little challenges, tending to always come out on top - managing to look after ourselves and prosper. They wish to be independent, and not too heavily reliant upon anyone else. [key to collaboration] It stands to reason that they will not be too heavily influenced by what lies outside their sphere of influence. Even if this involves the industry in which they belong... unless it is of benefit to them.

This same phenomenon exists in every field of play. Whether it be business, finance, architecture or engineering.

I am not surprised but I don't get it! Why are they unhappy? Because they aren't respected and paid as much as a lawyer?? Simple; if that's what floats your boat become a Lawyer! An anonymous contributor to the engineering group discussion.

Not the most sympathetic of responses, but a very compelling statement to the fact that we all have choices to make in life. So choose.

Engineers are vital to the day to day operation as well as the future vitally of our nation, but so to are plumbers and Doctors. We all have our role to play. A few are destined to lead but the majority are destined to play a more supportive role. That's life. An anonymous contributor to the engineering group discussion.

The riddle of why 90% of us still believe so adamantly that we are being exploited could very well be linked to our training. Some of us feel that we have no choice. We feel that our love for our profession was not simply foisted upon us! It chose us. Engineering is our vocation in life.

Still, this does not explain why we have as individuals and groups, relinquished so much control to our professional bodies and employers? It is illogical, is it not? Are we so hooked on our need to engineer and design, that we are willing to simply exist up and until retirement - the eternal whipping boys of the construction industry?

No, because not all of us do this. Some of us give up structural engineering. Perhaps taking up another parallel career path [project management, contract administrator, health and safety exec] which serves as pure voyeuristic torture. Forcing ourselves to watch 'real' engineers work on projects, getting all the kicks. In both senses of the word.

There is more going on here than meets the eye. 

A tradition of sharing rather than hoarding knowledge creates a level playing field in terms of technology and scientific knowledge, and so differentiation on quality is difficult (although clearly not impossible). Enhancing our remuneration can only come from tilting the playing field (e.g. through innovation) or from altering the market to reduce competition. The value we provide to society is irrelevant. An anonymous contributor to the engineering group discussion.

I will leave the post here for another day and conclude my findings for my #FridayBlog.

If anything here made you think and you would like some questions answered, then please leave comments. I will try to answer them before I write my concluding piece. 

Engine[er]

The Greatest Engineers of all time...

[What happened?]

My blog post comes a little late this week. The subject which I had planned to write about was the sticky and rather personal subject of Engineers salaries, and their status relative to other professions. I planned to summarise the results of this rather feisty LinkedIn discussion as my weekly post. [see here] for the live link to the group discussion page.

Unfortunately for us - the discussion exploded, failed to reach a consensus and then eventually spilt out into other nearby Civil and Structural group forums which riddle LinkedIn. Still with no discernible consensus, I started a [poll] to see if I could wrap it all up with some nice statistics.

It's not looking like our quest is going to finish anytime soon - but 47 have voted [17:50, 12/12/11] and 90% are not happy with their lot in life. No surprises there.

[So what we going to do about it now then?]

Therefore I have decided create a rather interesting list whilst waiting for a solid answer for our week long question...


The Worlds Greatest or most Famous Engineers. It's a good list this one - and I have a few to get us started. 


Isambard Kingdom Brunel - English Civil/Structural Engineer, Architect, Mechanical Engineer and Inventor.
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel - French Civil/Structural Engineer, Product Designer, Mechanical Engineer and Inventor.
Sir James Dyson - English Industrial Engineer, Product Designer and Inventor.
Archimedes - Greek Mathematician, Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, and Astronomer.
Steve Jobs - American Business man, Software Engineer and Inventor. 


I have a ton more Engineers that I could mention... but let's get a Twitter list going. Please just search for #greatengineers and start adding your favourites. I will use this list to do something very special.




Engine[er]

Perfectionism is dead, long live Persistence

This post is meant to be a follow up to a critique which I made of the blog post "7 Reasons why Perfection is a barrier to your Success".

I was not entirely satisfied with the points made by the writer and added my own spin to them - from an Engineers point of view. I wish to expand upon my comments slightly and add into the mix this statement;

"Perfectionism is dead, long live Persistence"

What is does a Perfectionist look like?

Persistence conjures up a rather different vision to that of perfection. So when you imagine a perfectionist, who do you think of? Possibly, you may be remembering that 'perfect' school kid which you shared a few classes with when you were a child. I wonder how successful he or she became? Or you may remember those conversations which you overheard from grown ups about how little Harry or Harriet is perfect in everything that they do. He or she will achieve huge success and the World is her or his oyster. Please feel free to imagine here - it is important to visualise what it is that you are chasing - that perfect result. 

What does a Persistent person look like?

Persistence, this conjures up a slightly duller, and less sexy image. These were the kids at school who were better then average, still managing to maintain a balanced existence. Perhaps in or on the verge of many school teams, from chess through to rugby - everyone knew them by their sheer disdain for the fact that they were never going to quite be the best, yet they tried anyway. You know of these boys and girls. They didn't grab all the achievements, but they got the merit awards, 'A' for effort, and their heads scruffed up for trying their best.

Both of these are paths to success, yet possibly only one is truly admired. Which one is it for you?

I do not think that they are too dissimilar in their potential outcomes. The more sexier 'profectionist' path conjures up an image of a golden boy/girl, where everything they touch turns to gold, a virtuoso. They have this incredible talent, and preside over always being at the right place at the right time. Cynically, these 'perfect people' are assumed to get the lions share of breaks in life, and that their success is in fact, inevitable.  That's a lot of pressure I say.

The less attractive path, the one of consistency, doggedness and hard-work... well, it's not as an enviable existence as the former. Yet I believe that they are the same traits of an identical mindset - from different points of view and stages of development. Goal chasing dreamers.

For some of us, perfectionism comes at a cost. Blood, sweat and tears. No! For all of us, attainment of our goals [even those set by our tutors/parents/mentors] can be hard work, it involves sacrifice and actually doing something! We just don't like to admit it. We much prefer to say that 'they' were built that way, and 'they' had all the advantages. So, why do we think this way? 

Just because we have not found a cause yet or a 'why', which truly inspires us to concentrate our mind, body and soul on. Those who chase a dream, a vision and are willing to commit to the journey, may not find what it is that they are looking for, but they will learn a great deal from going through this process. That process of learning is lost to those who fall at the first hurdle or three. 

I do not think that it is healthy to deal far too much in the technical nature of our work as Engineers - this is not the way to absolute professional freedom. It is essential that we practice and develop our skills as per our work dictates or our Institutions recommends, but it is as equally important to realise that there comes a time when you have to let go, trust in your experience and stay relevant. Perfectionism of technical ability is a trap which we must avoid.

I refer you to a great post by Seth Godin [the self truth, and the best violinist in the world]

Seth explains that the quest to be the technical best is an excuse. He says it’s a form of hiding from others and the marketplace because while you’re constantly refining your craft, you resist putting effort towards making real art and real connections. You’re not pushing the boundaries of what you can do and extending yourself. Instead, you waste time and energy staying inside the lines trying to conform and think this behavior will put your skills in high demand. [as taken from here, the perfectionism effect].

I began writing this post by wanting to tease out the meaning of perfectionism so that perhaps we can avoid it at all costs, because it is a terminal state of fulfilment. Perfection is an obstacle to continued personal innovation and creativity. I have duly learned that this term could possibly be just a label, which is slapped on those who we wish to aspire to. So therefore it will always have meaning for us both professionally and personally. One version of perfection is an idol, envisaged by their followers to be perfect. Another more dangerous version of perfection is one which you assign to yourself. 

We all like to be thought of as 'perfect' in our own right. Right?

Should you decide to pick a subject matter, a sport, a career and strive to be perfect at it, then you are doomed to failure. 

Should you pick one of the above and strive to be the very best at it... well now you are thinking differently. Pitting yourself up against a very real and tangible target can advance your learning and knowledge in a big way. Tough competition represents a route of accelerated learning, use it to catapult yourself into a new specialism. One where you can define the field and set the rules. Use this goal as a tool to get you where you need to be in your career and life.

Thus I have decided that in my mind, perfectionism needs a re-booting. During this post I have discussed that persistence and consistency are also a routes to success, and that there is a misunderstanding here, as to what perfection is. I say that you cannot proceed closer to your goals than those of us who choose to understand ourselves completely, and what it is that we want out of our 'doings'.

You are given a goal, you practice hard, you practice harder, then you improve upon those newly acquired skills. You eventually have the appearance of being highly skilled, of being a perfectionist, and you achieve success. Outwardly you make it all look too easy. So hard-work and persistence IS perfection. Perfection that is, in the eyes of outsiders, looking in.

"Perfectionism is dead, long live Perfectionism [persistence/consistence/concentration/understanding]"


Engine[er]

The Fall of the Design Dynasty

Updated! 7:37pm

Firstly I have got to say that I heard about this RIBA debate through Twitter. @Bldg_Futures were retweeted by one of the Architects that I follow on Twitter. As soon as I saw the title, I was hooked.

"THIS HOUSE BELIEVES THAT 'CONTRACTORS ARE THE ARCHITECTS OF THE FUTURE'" &
"IS TRADITIONAL, INDEPENDENT PRACTICE SET TO BECOME A THING OF THE PAST?"

What a wonderful topic. I booked a seat and headed on into London under cover of darkness.

I was very impressed by the turn out and settled into a great spot to watch and listen for anything of particular interest to us Engineers. I knew that the subject was going to be both an expansive and generative one, and if you haven't quite twigged why yet... then let me slowly reveal it to you.

Architects identities are under siege by heavily funded and motivated contractor war machines. Now, their tactics are not to storm the castle gates and over throw the design team monarchs by brute force alone. However, this tactic worked very well whilst assimilating quantity surveyors, then later [the easier prey], project managers: and of course our very own industry was one of the first to experience 'the grand assimilation'. BUT our industry has already lived through 5 or 6 generations of 'middle ground' engineers who have been marginalised, and stripped of their mojo. I make it sound like we were ambushed and sold into slavery, but in reality we allowed it to happen. Plain and simple.

Now Architects must allow it to happen to them too.

Why? Fighting the tide of this magnitude is a mugs game. In reality, the contractors need not have turned up to the debate or even justify their plans to deliver a single path of responsibility for the clients benefit. Again, why? Well, they have the clients ears already - that's why. Contractors, whether you agree with the motion or not, are delivering on their contractual promises. So why humour us? If this divergence of power is inevitable... why turn up at all? To rub the Architects noses in it? Perhaps. Because they felt obliged to thank Architects for putting up a valiant effort? Possibly.

My opinion is this, they are happy to wine and dine the motion because they currently do still NEED Architects. Never more than now, when change is afoot and clients are again tightly holding on to their purse strings. Currently Architects still hold massive amounts of trust and the ultimate Master Builder Status. Society and the client understand this. Bulldozing through Architects sensibilities is not a viable option for contractors - yet. Interestingly, I think there is more to this than meets the eye. I believe that Contractors are in fact trying to save Architects from themselves too.

An industry unable to agree amongst themselves on what to do, will go the way of the dodo. Contractors are demonstrating pity for Architects indecisive nature. A helping hand has been extended, and the burning question is... what are they going to do with it?

Well the vote result of the debate suggests that they are still frightened of the inevitable. Hence a vote against the house on Wednesday.

Do Architects think that by taking their proverbial ball away and restricting the use of the RIBA title to only Architects who are not affiliated with Contractors, is a winning strategy? If this is the truth, then I predict a future where they will experience the very same loss of social identity that plagues us engineers today. You lose out RIBA, big time.

Children will grown up and wish to be Bob the Builder or Colin the Contractor, and not an Architect. No one will know what it is that Architects do. Harsh predictions, but I wouldn't bet against it.

So what can Architects do? Study what happened to Engineers and learn from our mistakes. Do not waste energy abstaining or avoiding the grand assimilation. Once inside the inner sanctums of Contractors businesses, work towards owning them from the inside out. For example, some of the managing directors of large contractor firms are either run by Engineers, or were founded by them [Balfour Beatie, Osbourne, McLaren]. The same could be said of Architects for the future.

During the debate, a number of times infact, an observation was made that the polarisation of each industry present was indeed a fallacy; that the facts were that we all wanted the same thing. I'm not so sure about that one.

"Architects are the Bursars of the construction industry. No matter how bad you treat them, there will always be enough of them to go around" Paul Morrell, Chief Construction Adviser to Her Majesty's Government.

The same could be said of Structural Engineers.

If money was not as important, and as large a reward as it is in construction, then how many contractors would continue with this line of work? I know plenty of Architects and Engineers who would, AND DO! There is no need to take pity on ourselves though. We have ingenuity, design minds and feel such a social responsibility that indeed, Paul is right - we are and will forever be what's left when financial fall-out finally balances. Cockroaches of the construction industry. Indestructible. Not an entirely romantic expression to coin, but I stand by it for now.

The debate was lively and glimpses of Architectural futures were available for the assembly of Architects to see. For example, an Architect stood up and announced himself to be the go between for a contractor and series of Architectural practices wishing to 'date' their clients. He had the peculiar air of a man going to confession and seeking to off load an almighty guilt. This Architect represents a change in attitude, he may not feel comfortable or particularly loyal to the RIBA, he may have even been sneered at by his brethren.... but in my opinion he has the right idea believe it or not.

For your information, a collection of Architects is called a Curiosity. A collection of Contractors is a Murder [joking!] and a collection of Engineers should be called an Entourage... until we get our acts together that is.

Thanks for reading.


Engine[er]

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