Just as every task has its time, so every book has its time – this is the thought that caught up with me on the last pages of Guru Madhavan’s book “Think Like an Engineer”. Not having caught me at the beginning, but absorbing me at the end – I am sure that the manual will become an adornment of any corporate library. So, both a beginner and an experienced project manager should read about how to turn problems into opportunities – people who are able to build systems.
It is important to understand that in his book the author does not simply tell how the barcode was invented, the ATM was created and GPS communication was set up. To show what was behind the discoveries that turned the world upside down, what actions led to them, as well as the key stages of launching solutions that were unique for their time - that was the goal. 8 chapters, 8 lives, 8 situations that changed the life of everyone on earth.
Well, I have a book in front of me that has taken me on 8 fascinating excursions through a number of different areas, from the areas of strict control and standardization to the mysterious corners of the engineering mind. And now we are going to talk about how engineers are able to turn feelings into finished products - about the stages of project management from the point of view of engineering thinking.
So, what to do if you are on the verge of solving a complex problem? How to turn on complex thinking?
"You just have to sit down and think through each possible solution, step by step, one by one, and believe that there is a solution and that you can find it. And not sigh about the fact that it is impossible."
1 Selection and combination
The first story is that of Jean-Baptiste Vaquet de Gribeauval, whose inventions became the basis for the production of light guns for Louis XV's artillery. It was later considered the most effective artillery in Europe. How he managed to achieve such results can be explained by one quote.
"Engineering is synonymous not only with systems thinking, but also with building systems. It is the ability to analyze a problem from all sides. It is necessary not only to understand the elements and their chinese overseas british phone number list interdependence, but also to fully understand their totality and its meaning."
This is one of the reasons why engineering thinking is useful in many areas of life. Gribeauval’s work is known for its structured approach to innovation. Now check whether your approach to innovation answers the following questions:
What are you trying to do? Be clear about your goals.
How is this implemented today and what is the range of possible restrictions?
What's new about the approach? Why will it be successful?
If you achieve success, what will it affect?
What are the risks and benefits?
How much will it cost?
What intermediate and final checks are needed to find out whether the result has been achieved?
The right questions, asked in a logical order, keep your vision of your goals clear.
So, structure, constraints and compromises are the basic properties of engineering thinking. For an engineer, they have the same meaning as beat, tempo and rhythm for a musician.
2 Optimization
In the early 2000s, traffic congestion on the streets of Stockholm reached a critical level. Consulting engineers from IBM were called upon to solve the capacity of the roads, namely the optimization of the transport routes of the entire city.
Surprisingly, the definition of optimization is quite simple. The concept itself consists of two components – a goal and a constraint. The goal directs us to obtain the most profitable result, while the constraint serves as a frame that does not allow distractions. A simple but far-sighted optimization strategy helped solve the practical problem of road congestion, which at first glance cannot be considered an engineering prerogative.
Think Like an Engineer – A Story About Turning Problems into Opportunities - image
The solution was to maximize utility and optimize resource allocation mechanisms. Traffic intensity was reduced – people adopted a congestion charge system, thereby evenly distributing the load on Stockholm's central roads – a form of hidden preference played its role.
3 Increased efficiency and reliability
Do you know what Piggly Wiggly is? The first self-service store that allowed customers to choose their own products back in 1916. Clarence Saunders designed the store to direct customers along pre-determined routes. Piggly Wiggly used a uniform color scheme and fonts, and was meticulously clean. Saunders created a new way of arranging products; everything is aimed at achieving a goal - to make every movement of the employee lead to efficient work or income. The result was the perception of the self-service model as an invisible GPS navigator that directs and adjusts our desires. It is not surprising that such stores enjoy undeniable success - order, freedom of choice and the absence of pressure make their owners successful entrepreneurs.
"Improving performance starts with a simple question: Why? By asking this question 5 times, you get very close to the root cause of any particular problem in any process."
Conclusion
At some point, each of us becomes an engineer. It is important to understand that this type of thinking is not a panacea, but a stable model of understanding life. It can be applied in any field of activity, because its elements - structure and limitations, and the main concepts - optimization and efficiency, are perfectly suited for finding solutions to any problems. Engineering thinking is utilitarian - it is focused on the result.
Engineering is the art of finding optimal solutions. An engineer is likely to look at the situation as a whole and try to find useful new ways of interacting and combining factors. Such talent should be recognized and encouraged in all areas of life.
Neil Armstrong said: “I am and always will be a boring engineer – an engineer in white socks. Who carries his pen in a protective case; I was born from the second law of thermodynamics and immediately put into an autoclave, my diapers were random distribution diagrams, and I am crazy about Laplace’s formulas.” So let’s follow his example, and with flexible standards and scrupulousness we will continue to change the world.
