IEEE-USA President's Column

 

MARCH 2007

For us engineers, the prospect of designing the "next new thing" is what gets us up and running in the morning.

But if you really want to make innovations come to life, stick to an old-fashioned idea: job ownership. Different from company loyalty, work ethic or actual financial investment, this ownership is the investment of yourself — by taking personal responsibility — in the products, processes and people with which you are involved.

Ownership is an umbrella concept with many underpinnings:

• A willingness to understand the company's business — its customers, goals and culture;
• The motivation to be knowledgeable and skilled in the use of technologies and tools used in one's work;
• Taking responsibility for continuing education and ensuring that one's knowledge and skills are ever-expanding;
• The ability to communicate in such a way as to be a positive influence among one's co-workers;
• Possessing interpersonal skills that facilitate interactions with colleagues;
• Being consummate innovators, constantly seeking ways to improve products and services;
• Having a strong drive to simplify and to improve efficiency in processes that they use in carrying out one's job function;
• Displaying a selfless attitude, indicated by mentoring and making the success of their organization the No. 1 objective.

Ownership is especially important to competitiveness because it values long-term thinking vs. short-term gains. Particularly in the high-tech sector, business is based on a continuing progression of product development. When a development team is made up of "owners" they have a history of knowledge gained in their earlier work, including lessons learned from their mistakes and personal relationships built over time. When a management team and technical employees work together to achieve strategic objectives, the competitive advantage benefits the employee and the company, along with shareholders and customers.

I realize that this approach may not work in some organizations. Engineers are going to encounter management cultures that are inimical to personal initiative — where short-term, because-I-said-so attitudes support the status quo and suppress engineers' natural instinct to make the world a better place. In such cases when your drive and creativity are being derailed, you can practice ownership in a selfish way.

For example: have ready answers when your boss wants to discuss your projects; provide your boss with alternatives — find new paths around a seemingly immovable problem; if your idea is rejected, be open-minded to other possibilities.

When I was a greenhorn in the Navy Nuclear Program at G.E., I was alone one night on the evening shift at the plant, and a problem developed. I thought the only choice was to shut down. After calling and speaking with the boss, it quickly turned out that I had not evaluated other factors and scenarios beyond shutting down the plant. He told me this was not an option and to call him back with new recommendations. I began learning to be an "owner" by looking at facts from different angles.

Engineering is not just about designing. You have to solve a lot of problems. The best solutions are derived by engineers who care equally about the big picture and the nuts and bolts. Helen Keller once said, in part, "It is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."

On the subject of ownership, I cannot top that sentiment.

Updated:  15 May 2007
Contact: Pender M. McCarter, p.mccarter@ieee.org