Engineering for the 21st Century 3535(1)

The Entrepreneurial Engineer: Personal, Interpersonal, and Organizational Skills for Engineers in a World of Opportunity

Module 1: Engineering for the 21st Century

David E. GoldbergUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Urbana, Illinois [email protected]

The Entrepreneurial Engineer © 2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved. 2

Welcome to TEETEE = The Entrepreneurial EngineerTEE is

A set of lecturesA bookA blog: www.entrepreneurialengineer.

blogspot.comAn attitude about the world we live in

Fast-paced world is changing what engineers think and do.

http://www.entrepreneurialengineer.blogspot.com/

http://www.entrepreneurialengineer.blogspot.com/


My BackgroundBSE & MSE in early 70s at Michigan.Worked in small startup in 1976.Returned to school for PhD.Sidetracked by research/teaching career at Alabama and Illinois.Better known work on genetic algorithms and computational innovation.Currently Jerry S. Dobrovolny

Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurial Engineering. Chief Scientist for Nextumi, www.nextumi.com. Broadly interested in history, philosophy, business & economics.

http://www.nextumi.com/


The Times They Are a Changin’Engineering students used to

Engineering students today

Work as engineers.

Work as engineers & non-engineers.

Work for one large employer for life.

Work for a number of firms of different sizes and maturity.

Work and be judged as individuals.

Work & be evaluated on interdisciplinary teams.

Be concerned largely with tech feasibility.

Be concerned with market-tech-societal feasibility.

Bob Dylan, b. 1941


This ModuleExamine forces shaping a new entrepreneurial engineer.Beyond tech: Order 1, 2, & n skills.10 competencies for the entrepreneurial engineer.4 methods: common sense, humanities, social science, engineering.3 principles: Engagement, create-then-criticize, other eyes.3 cautions: ideals beware, obvious isn’t easy, practice makes perfect.


Cold War vs. 21st

CenturyIn the Cold War:

Large, centralized organizations.Many specialties under one roof.Engineering work specialized & mainly technical.

TodaySpread of information technology.Reduction in transaction costs.Results in smaller world with smaller, more agile organizations.Needs broadly capable engineers oriented toward opportunity.


“Entrepreneurial Engineer?”Broad usage of the term “entrepreneurial.”Not referring to a type of company.Entrepreneurial engineers can work for

Small startups (startup entrepreneur).Large extant organizations (intrapreneur).

Entrepreneurial is a state of mind:Orientation toward opportunity.Intellectual, financial, organizational arbitrage.


Order 1, 2, & n SkillsEngineering education concentrates on building technical competence.Need many non-technical skills to be broadly competent:

Order 1: Personal skills.Order 2: Interpersonal skills, between you and another.Order n: Organizational skills, between you and the many.


Ten Competencies1.

The joy of engineering

2.

Money & you: engagement3.

Time management

4.

Write for your life5.

Present, don’t speak

6.

The human side of engineering7.

Ethics in matters small, large, and engineering

8.

Master the pervasive team9.

Organizations and leadership

10.

Technology opportunity assessment


Joy of EngineeringEngineering is a great education: Liberal arts education for 21st

century.

Engineering is a great profession: Action oriented, but based on thought, involves and affects people.Some Tensions:

Tug of scienceTug of business

Golden mean the key.


Money, Work & YouEngineers often interested in money.Who gets rich and why?Interestingly engagement is path to wealth.Do what you love and the money may follow.What are your values, life mission, and objectives?


Mastering Time and SpaceMastering values, mission, and objectives is strategic personal plan.Tactically, must master time and space.The challenge of time:

Easy to waste.Non-renewable resource.

Tools: calendar, to-do list, and systematic filing system.


Write for Your LifeMany engineers don’t like to write, but most engineers write a lot:

E-mails, memos, reports.Specs, proposals, contracts.

Need good process and content:Write first, then revise: Freewriting

exercise.

B-P-R: background, purpose, roadmap.Lists & amplification.


Present, Don’t SpeakNo speeches need apply.Presentations (*.ppt):

Talks supported by ppt

slides or transparencies.Organization: B-P-R again.Lists and more lists.Transparency speak.Miller rule: 7 ±

2 elements.


Human Side of EngineeringEngineers build models of things.Engineers can build model of people, too.Key model:

See matters through the eyes of others.Disagreements as differences in perception.Role of questions.We are all salesmen.Praise, criticism, and passion.


Ethics in Matters Small, Large & Engineering

Odd that students find ethics boring:

Corporate shenanigans are up.Copying of Intellectual property rampant. Cheating is up.

Golden rules: positive & negative.Whence right & wrong: 5 theories.Moral theory to practice: authority, conformity & practice.Engineering ethics: codes & conflicts.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)


The Pervasive TeamEngineers work as part of teams.But teamwork is hard:

Communication grows as square of team size.Balancing decision making and doing is hard.Cooperation thwarted by prisoner’s dilemma.

Ground rules for shared expectations.Reorganize for effective meeting dynamics.Groups vs. teams: Accountable for important mission.Brainstorming & creativity: How do we concoct solutions as individuals and in groups.


Organizations & LeadershipWhy do we join organizations?

Economic answer: Transaction costs.Psychological answer: Accumulated status.Reduced transaction costs, change jobs more often: free agency.

Motivation, Maslow, & Theory X & Y.Recognizing great companies: From Good to Great.Recognizing Δ

cultures: Gods of Management.


Assessing Tech OpportunitiesWhat is opportunity? Realizable difference between what should be and what is.Sustainable competitive advantage. What is your niche?3 Financial mysteries: fear of financials, breaking even, time value of money.Opportunity assessment as mini-B-plan

exec summary, tech description, market, prelim financials, action plan.


Four MethodsCommon sense & critical reasoning.Humanities: historical & philosophical modes of thought.Social science: economics & psychology.Engineering: Little quantitative models + empirical observation + inventiveness. Aristotle (384-322 BCE)


Three Principles1.

Engagement.

2.

Create first; criticize later.

3.

Analyze and design behavior through the eyes of others.


EngagementDoing for intrinsic rewards of the activity:

Time flies when you’re having fun.Would do without getting paid.

2 ways:Engage in activities you like.Find engagement in all activities.

Complexity of the activity fascinates:Multiple facets and levels.Mastery tests breadth of capability.


Create First, Criticize LaterCriticism easily becomes default mode of thought.Stifles creativity by preventing many ideas:

Fluency: many ideas.Flexibility: diverse ideas.

Let ideas out; then, criticize to refine and make practical.


Eyes of OthersGolden rules ask us to see things through eyes of others and act accordingly.We act easily in our own interests.To understand interests of others, put yourself in their shoes.Easy to say, hard to do.


Three Cautions

1.

Be realistic in application of ideals.

2.

Mastering the obvious isn’t easy.

3.

Engage the material and put it to practice.


Cautious in Using IdealsIdeals provide way to model better future state, personally or organizationally.But most individuals and organizations are far from ideal.Rookies will see difference between reality and ideal and become discouraged.Don’t play “ain’t

it awful.”

Use ideals as guides, not despair.


Mastering Obvious Isn’t EasyPersonal, interpersonal, and organizational skills seem “obvious”

to

some.Mastering obvious isn’t easy.Mastery of high-level facet mistaken for detail: golf as an example.Always something to learn about complex task.


Need for PracticeOld joke about Carnegie Hall.Practice, practice, & practice.Material in this course must be

Engaged &Put into practice.

Let’s get to it.


SummaryFast-paced world of change creates opportunities.Entrepreneurial as a state of mind.10 competencies for the entrepreneurial engineer.3 principles.4 methods.3 cautions.

Engineering for the 21st Century 3535(1)

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