When Collaboration Fails

First off, thank you to everyone who had contributed [comments/pledges] to our attempt to raise enough investment, in order to print a famous engineers Top Trumps© style deck of cards.

Hopefully by now, you will all have seen your pledges returned via pay-pal.

Once the time had elapsed, and the project closed, we decided set aside some time to take a close look at why we may have failed, this time round. Learn from the experience.

Firstly, the definition of a collaborative failure is;

• Project did not reach intended goal. In this case - there were not enough pledges or the target was set too high.
• It did not get the recognition it needed. This is possible, but the amount of views on our blog alone would have secured us victory. So not convinced that recognition was a real reason for failure.
• Inadequate credibility. Very possible. We had seen enough interest from our engineering community - but perhaps there was not enough official weighting to the proceedings to call enough of us into action. Not one retweet by the IStructE, or ICE or ASCE, ACE... or indeed any engineering institution, community or group. This would not look good.
• The message was lost. More likely to be the real cause. You simply did not know what was going on. Why we were doing this, and how it would help...WHY?!

The lack of a common vision was apparent from some of the comments coming in. Unfortunately - by the time we began to recognise the lack of direction, it was too late to change the project details.

It occurred to us that this was not a collaborative effort at all, and this was why it ultimately failed.

The project suffered because crowd funding is still quite a new thing to all of us. Again it had became obvious by chatting to a few of those who asked questions, that the idea of crowd funding was alien to them. Understanding it was just another thing to learn. 

Another small detail which proved to be a barrier to success was pay-pal. What a joke. More and more people are signing up for pay-pal accounts to pay for online merchandise, but if you are anything like me, I hate the thought of having to pay 80p to pay-pal for what was effectively supposed to be a fun project. 

The list above is heavily staked in favour of failure, and the straw which broke the camels back, was that the investment target was set far too high. 

In reality, only a very small target was required to get this project off the ground. We genuinely believed that we wouldn't be able to provide everyone with a deck of cards - so we raised the target amount to support a heavier response and pledge rate. You live and learn.

What next?

Well we know that some of you still want this project to happen. We want it to happen too.

So we will make it happen from this end and let you know when we have printed them of ready for distribution. It's a great idea and deserves to see the light of day.

Many thanks, and please give us your comments.

Engine[er]

It's becoming easier to be Rebel Scum

Last post I mentioned Kevin Taylor. A structural engineer who has worked his way through engineering technician status, had a long stint checking calculations for a local authority, and now busies himself with running his own one-man-band engineering practice [+ sub consultants].

Since posting up the links to his engineering websites to my [blog], I have had the opportunity to briefly chat with him on the telephone. I asked a few questions, like about how and why he is trying to push into a predominantly web based market? Also, I enquired as to how his business was fairing - at this stage.

A summary of Kevins' online ventures can be found within the [links] at the end of my last post.

What drew me to Kevin's online [businesses] was his apparent disregard for formalities. Paying no homage to the tried and tested business plans, which exist within smaller structural and civil engineering enterprises. The man has a plan, and it appears that he is not afraid to journey into the unknown, just to see what happens.

As you can imagine - I'm loving that. As an engineer, designer, creative and fledgling entrepreneur... I'm loving that adventurous spirit.

Please do not misunderstand me, Kevin obviously has thought long and hard before committing time and money to his ventures. Citing business and engineering role models such as Chris Wise, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Bill Gates, Kevin appears to have transferred our trade mark engineering 'have a go' attitude into his businesses too.

The question is; will the time spent, pay off for him? To put it in Kevin's words "Time will tell" and "I didn't go into this expecting immediate results". Good man.

What I think is that this form of engineering business style is only the beginning. Since the established 'mini-me' consultancy paradigms seem to rely [in part] upon following the same analogous route of putting in time, leveraging connections, earning your stripes [blah, blah], and making the most of any opportunities thrown our way, it is only logical that small companies like Kevin's, will grab more and more ground through guerilla style marketing techniques. Or indeed, they will evolve in such ways so that the limitations in growth set by the larger, established engineering and construction companies become insignificant, and easy to circumnavigate.

Another question we should be asking ourselves as engineers is, what are we physically doing to reinforce or break down the status-quo of our industries historical business practices here? Why is it becoming easier to rebel, and who stands to benefit from the ensuing anarchy?

From my personal viewpoint - so long as we have strive for ingenuity and ethical behaviour; we are professionally capable, knowledgeable, AND we do not expose ourselves, our clients and benefactors to unesseccary risks... then innovation will out itself eventually. So change is a foot, and is a good thing.

• Why is it easier to rebel? The long tale has become unsettled, and is begging for change. Faster, more pervasive communication is readily available.
• Who stands to benefit? We all do. Even those who stand to loose the most, will gain a newly motivated, educated and business-like workforce. 

So what is standing in the way of change? I could say tradition. I might even be tempted to utter the word loyalty. Loyalty to a business paradigm which non-longer deserves our undying faithfulness to it.

The problem with both of those words, is with what value do you attach to them? Especially when your business is cracking up, or you are being pushed from one redundancy package to another. Or indeed, you can't even seem to give your time away to a local engineering consultancy, just so you can flesh out your CV, in readiness for better times.

Times are not good for the long tail... or are they?

I finished my last blog by remarking that I was scared, and I also invited the readers of this blog, to pose an answer as to why this might be the case. No comments back. But that's OK, because I am quite happy to reveal to you my thoughts.

There is an entrepreneurial spirit out there, amongst us engineers. With every new business start-up, the owners dreams [like seeds] are being cast upwards and outwards in the hope that they will land fortunately, and germinate in a nutritious environment.

The truth is, there really is no fertile soil left. We have over farmed this particular field.

Yes, Long tails like Kevin can survive in a less than welcoming environment, and represent the metaphorical localised testing of new 'super crops'. Unfortunately though, it is still far too easy to remain on the sidelines, to criticise, to abstain from providing support and to apply the 'if I had a time machine' retort to each and every venture we witness.

I'm scared because, what Kevin needs is support. Support from his clients and from his peers. But will he get it? Only the remaining engineering long-tails can answer that. That's you and me [of course]. 

As you know, I launched a small collaborative effort which has only cost me time, energy and the sharing of another idea from my mind. An experiment; the results of which are expected to help me plan my next engineering endeavour. By the way, please keep coming back here and supporting me where ever you can!

I really appreciate the emails and messages through LinkedIn. They all keep me going.

To finish off I would like to leave you with this cool reminder. We do make a difference to each others lives, careers, futures. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you are on your own in this world. There are always people out there who can help you - should they choose to.

So give innovation a go. Kevin is. 


Engine[er]

BIG SHOUT OUT TO RICHARD SALMON. Thanks for the support :-)

The future of Structural Engineering

"It's the old frontier that actually presents the most interesting opportunities, because the shine has worn off. This is your platform for real innovation, innovation in a place or a market or a situation that truly is ready for it..." Seth Godin

I quote Seth an awful amount. Why? Because the future of our industry lies in connections and connecting the dots. Seth's words plants seeds, I will attempt to grow one of those here, and you - I hope, will reap a very special reward.

For many many years our industry has provided a HUGE service to the built environment and society. To coin a phrase which cropped up during one of my discussions on LinkedIn, "we are the understated risk takers of society". To be honest, I do not know where this was quoted from, or indeed if it was the first time to be mentioned... but this is who we are. Structural Engineers... risk taker extraordinares!!

If you are not a structural engineer then you probably would not have heard of the following engineering quote too. It is scary, and I urge you read it: this describes our profession quite eloquently.

"Structural engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess in such a way that the public at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance."

I'm probably not going to be hunted down by a gaggle of engineering ninjas hell bent on my destruction for writing that, as this quote is available on google anyway. BUT I'm sure that sharing this revelation to the general public was not on the mind of the very first engineer to make that statement. Truth is many engineers after that event have also been drawn to similar parallels.

OK, I wanted to share with you a revelation I have had. It has to do with our future, our employers future, the future of our industry. We have been surviving for the last 150 years or so, dining out on the efforts of engineers during the industrial age, such as the Brunels and Telford [to mention only a few]. These incredible engineers were unbound and able to guide a wave of industrious innovation, fed by huge sums of private and public funding. They sold engineering to the masses. The world ate it up.

For this post I will deftly gloss over the historical roots of Engineers - coming to you in a post very soon.

It was not all high 5's and slaps on backs though. During this time many lives were lost due to pushing the envelope and gambling with risk over certainty. Trust me, safety was a high priority, but writing the instruction manual WHILST engineering a new future led to costly delays and fatal mistakes.

So where are we now? Engineering is a technical specialism. The risks associated with our profession have forced even our most talented practitioners to focus like a laser beam on what it is, beneath our noses. Good? Absolutely. Our attention to detail has saved lives, money... and consequently, provided respite to shareholders, the public, and government officials from overburdening themselves with the stress of potential costly mistakes. AND, in a rather melodramatic way, I believe that our greatest gift to construction and society has been strangling the life out of our industry.

It's like this, if you found a thick, rich vein of mathematically minded problem solving gravity defying magicians who - GET THIS - not only loved being shut away to deal with the technical needs of your clients/employers BUT revelled in the risk taking... then you had better hold onto them! You take them at an early age and you teach them to survive in a world of uncertainty. Not only that, you create a system where the best and the most experienced write rule books and teach the new waves to do the very same thing! Sound familiar? Society benefits. Farm after farm of eager engineering students begin their life long journey of learning and enlightenment. Once they are ready, they pass on their knowledge. There you have it, a system perfect at delivering the slightly autistically natured, mathematically minded volunteers to the coal face for another generation of built environmental servitude.

You may be reading this and thinking, WOW, this guy seems pretty cynical about engineering as a whole. Wrong. I love my profession, the opportunities are massive! You may be thinking WOW, this guy has a point... but how would we go about changing any of that? What is the point in discussing it. If you didn't feel that way and were an engineer - then I would be closely scrutinising your qualifications... we are trained very very well.

My answer: nothing needs to be done. It's already happening. Connections, connecting the dots.

Today, I am able to speak more freely with more of my engineering brethren than ever before. But not in that 'false' way were we are mildly interested in what it is that the engineers across the road are doing. I am connecting in a very real way. We are sharing thoughts, we are sharing experiences. It is early days, but the result of this kind of communication and connection is leading us all down a very singular path. We are beginning to share a common goal. For the first time since I have been an engineer, I can see the green sprouts of collaboration on a huge scale! I can visualise that one day I will freely pass work to my specialist engineering neighbours for the sake of education and giving the client the very best possible skills available.

Once engineering again becomes an infectious passion amongst us and not a life sentence of proud servitude, then we will control our destiny, our businesses and our freedom to innovate.

I make no predictions here, it is happening. Get on board, add me on Twitter, follow each other AND KEEP INSPIRING ONE ANOTHER.


Engine[er]

As promised, an additional post came to my attention. Please feel free to check out this link  written a few years ago by Jeff Asher, S.E., M.ACSE for the STRUCTUEmag. It is because of editorials and posts like these, that we must try and find a way to join in and push each other on...

Business Planter

I worked hard today. When you work for yourself though there seems to be bottomless well of energy to tap into, AND everything you do for your business is fun! Hmmm maybe that's a minor stretch of the imagination. Let's just say you can see the benefits of your labours in full technicolor, and leave it at that for now.

In amongst my blogs of recent days i forgot to mention a few things about me. I know that I should have done this earlier, but here goes. Firstly, I am human and fallible. Not fallible and therefore a risk taking professional! Good God no. I mean fallible in the way that I may spend a little bit too much time researching or that i have a tough time remembering names. Secondly, even though I like to think that I can conjure up an answer to most questions... in reality; outside of engineering and raw problem solving ability... I tend to need more help than I can give. For now. Thirdly, you have my complete attention. Yes you. You there reading my blog. [no I'm not going to ask you to christen a child-like princess - like in 'The Never Ending Story'] the reason why I write is to show you that I am here doing this so that you can exercise your option to glean a thing or two from my mistakes, and victories. Please don't forget to tell me ALL about your gleaning.

During my stroll through Veralum Park in St Albans on Thursday evening, on my way to a evening chat with members of our local Chamber of Commerce, I was very lucky to brew a brief brain storm. I concentrated on management of my business expansion into the future. The way I saw it was as follows, either I could;
1. Continue to grow a client base. Squirrel away funds and use this to establish an office and begin employing other Engineers. Traditional, tried and tested. Pluses? Lots of advice out there, and as straight forward as you can get. Potentially a comfortable life style. Minuses? Recruitment, and management of staff is not everyone's cup of tea. I can't see myself doing that until I retire. And this is exactly what I will have to do to afford retirement... as selling businesses of this nature is notoriously personal, and good will, will only get you so much in financial return. Bit of a cul-de-sac that one.
or
2. Partner-up with other Engineers. Find one or two like minded business owners of a similar size, merge and share work and responsibilities. You get stability, when your neck of the woods are quiet... and conversely you will be expected to prop up you partners when the situation has been reversed. I am not overly enamoured by this model. There is still too much competition internally for business, and ultimately this may lead to one partner growing weary and separating. Growth is made easier by virtue of a less risky field of play, higher number of opportunities AND by organic growth. Big advantage, you will already have 1 or 2 ready made buyers for when you feel the need to sell up your part of the business.
Or
3. Collaborate with complimentary business streams to offer a broader service. For example, find a builder or Architect or both and launch a separate company, sharing profits. This could be an unfair model and would tend to focus growth down a particular route. Collaboration should be aimed at leveraging resources so that larger contracts can be attained. Problem, no natural buyer for business unless the collaborators have gained some long term framework agreement with a major service provider and therefore have built in long term value...
Or
4. Collaborate with a completely non-complimentary business. Strange one this. You are seeking different revenue streams by thinking laterally and using the experience to learn more about a different business altogether. Those of you who know me will definitely think that this is the route most attractive to me. If only to take on the challenge. Pluses? Lots to learn and more chance of falling upon an idea which is entirely original for both your business. Downs. Sounds hard work, expensive to integrate and stupid. I can discount hardwork as this is something which you HAVE to partake in anyway. Expensive? Could cause a problem. Stupid? I like the sound of that... original ideas always seem stupid at first - there is no precedence to compare it to and you are embarking upon the unknown. Stupid is as stupid does.








Of course there are lots more to think about but this is a good start. What do you think?

NOTE. most options involve some kind of collaboration. Interesting?


Engine[er]

Location:St Albans,United Kingdom