Things Great Engineers (Almost) Never Say

Re:Things Great Engineers (Almost) Never Say by saucetenuto on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @10:18AM (#4636406)

> “I will need ______ (tool/condition) to complete this task”

Yeah, this one is nonsense. I think I see what the author meant, though. Consider this conversation:

  Engineer: “I will need ______ (tool/condition) to complete this task”
  Manager: "You can't have it"

IME, great engineers distinguish themselves by their reply:

  Bad Engineer: "Then I guess we can't do it"
  Good Engineer: "Hmm...what if we had these other things?"
  Great Engineer: "Hmm...what if we solved this other problem?"

There's some overlap, of course, but my experience is that good engineers find creative ways to deliver the feature, while great engineers find creative ways to solve the problem, if you see what I mean.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Things Great Engineers (Almost) Never Say by fecak on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @10:27AM (#4636434)

Author here, points well taken, and your illustration is pretty close to my intent. I'd say regarding a specific tool, a great engineer could probably solve the problem at hand effectively without having to rely on any one specific tool. If you work for a company that has standardized technology roadmaps where certain tools are forbidden (think regulated industries, some gov't), a great engineer will know of or find another tool to use within those guidelines.

Regarding a specific condition, I could see where there are times when one may need to solve another problem.

[ Parent | on HN ]