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Do Good Engineers Make Good Managers?

Staff Writer
1/10/2020 | 5 min read
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Do Good Engineers Make Good Managers?

The world today needs creative leadership and technological entrepreneurship. So why do so many companies still believe that effective, science-minded engineers invariably will fail as good managers?

"Most engineers become managers in their careers, and typically they are unprepared for the transition,” according to a paper that appeared in Engineering Management Journal in 2002.

Why, after all these years, is this view so widely held? Especially in large corporations?

Perhaps it flows from an assumption that engineers prefer working with things (materials) and the laws of physics rather than managing people with their complex mix of emotions, passions, habits and some logic. Those who hold this perspective may not realize that many engineers enter the profession to help people meet their basic needs for lodging, food preparation, mobility, communication, and health. Architectural engineers, food-processing engineers, transportation engineers, biomedical engineers, and many others simply wanted to solve human problems technologically.

Key Tactics for Managerial Success

According to an article from VentureBeat, the key to being a good manager in technology lies in the ability to "assess technical options, align recommendations with business requirements, and communicate these decisions to non-technical stakeholders.”

The article also lists these important steps that engineers should take to become an effective manager in the field:

  1. Adopt a business mindset and develop empathy.
  2. Focus on the objective rather than the obstacles.
  3. Establish connections within your network.
  4. Learn how to measure your success based on employee perceptions.
  5. Maintain your projects in their lifespan instead of just focusing on the rollout.
  6. Keep a positive attitude (it’s easier said than done).

While most engineers excel in the technical aspect of their work, one of the hardest skills to develop is how to collaborate with other people on projects. The same goes for leadership, no one person (or engineer) is born a leader, so that skill is one of the most important to focus on in your transition from an independent engineer to a manager.  

Let’s start with leadership, because "leadership is moving beyond management,” as the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) puts it.

In an Engineers & Technology paper, Robin McGill described some steps he took between engineering and becoming chief executive at IET, an international society for the engineering and technology community. He got through his first experience of supervising by "engaging people and not being frightened to ask for help.”

The real challenge, he said, "was getting people aligned, getting them to function at the highest possible level and getting them to identify with the strategy we were following.”

Ou Shian Waei, managing director of IBM Malaysia, recently told The Edge Daily, "You need to know where the company’s and even the staff’s weaknesses are — you can’t be shy and defensive about that. It needs to be properly conveyed to the staff. You can then identify your strengths and preserve as well as build them at the same time. It’s all about trust, which eventually leads to the formation of passion. With passion, opportunities could be found whenever a problem occurs.”

This leads us to a passion for problem-solving.

"The root of passion comes from understanding,” Waei said. "You must have interest in the subject and want to explore it – and that’s where your passion comes from – exploring,” Waei said. He added, "It’s passion that drives people to success.”

Curious Engineers Make Great Managers

Have you ever known an incurious engineer?

History is on the side that engineers can evolve into roles of managerial responsibility. After all, it was a young engineer named Kiichiro Toyoda who some 70 years ago founded the Toyota Motor Company. And today’s Toyota Production System, not to mention a very strong management philosophy that exemplifies the success of engineers as managers, emerged from Toyota’s Company.

Since then, engineers have proven time and again that those in their profession possess the characteristics necessary to lead, never mind to manage. Why, then, does the view that good engineers invariably will fail as managers continue to be held?

We’ve only scratched the surface here. And while the question can only be answered based on the individual engineer, there is no good reason for professional engineers to imagine a glass ceiling holding them back in a management position as long as they can prove that when they take responsibility, success will follow.

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