I like to make a joke about what engineers do to their bodies by referring to it as “life as an engineer.” This may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s an idea worth exploring.
The term “engineer” is frequently used to describe a person who has specialized knowledge about their industry. This can include anything from technical knowledge to business know-how. Engineers can use their knowledge and skills to create things, and that knowledge can be used to create things of their own. The two most famous engineers to have used their skills to create things are Steve Jobs and Alan Turing.
Just because someone has engineering skill does not mean that they should be viewed as a engineer. Engineers are often labeled as “computer geeks” and these labels seem to have started to catch on. These kinds of people can be pretty annoying, though. Engineers who are good programmers can be annoying as well. Engineers can be very difficult to get along with, and some engineers are not at all easy to get along with.
It’s like that. Steve Jobs is a good example of an engineer who is not a good programmer. He can be extremely friendly and helpful, but he has a tendency to be arrogant and pushy. Alan Turing, on the other hand, was an incredibly smart, dedicated, and hard-working engineer who was not a bad programmer, but he had a tendency to be pushy even when he was trying to be helpful.
Engineers can often be hard to get along with. I’ve seen a few engineers do terrible things to get along with others, and I’ve seen great engineers come out a few times and be very friendly and helpful. Steve Jobs was an excellent engineer. He didn’t cause his problems. They were a result of a series of personal mistakes that caused him to do some very bad things in the name of progress.
Engineers are also often very good at getting their way, and getting it by using their engineering skills to create something good that is superior to the alternatives. They can also sometimes get their way because they are very good at getting others to do exactly that.
A good engineer has a unique perspective on things, not unlike the way he sees the world, and is able to use that perspective to make decisions that benefit everyone in his organization. He is able to have a very high level of self-awareness, so he will be able to recognize when something is going wrong, but also to be able to correct things.
Engineers are extremely hard to find. They are highly sought after, and often times the only people in a company that has the capability to hire them. Often times they get the shaft because they are not the best fit for the company or the company is unwilling to compromise. They’re also extremely hard to fire because they may be the only ones who can explain the problem to the board.
Engineers are very important for a wide variety of reasons. They are the ones who build our buildings and transportation systems, they are the ones who build our bridges, they are the ones who build our skyscrapers and we are the ones who use their technology. If you want to be in the top 5% of all engineers in the world, you have to be willing to compromise, and if you arent willing to compromise then youre going to find yourself in the bottom third.
Engineers are our key workers, our people who make life better for the rest of us.