Laura Thomson posed a question on Twitter, asking what do you like most about being an engineer? I spent a good part of the morning thinking about it, and it’s an interesting question to answer. My answer is simple: it’s the fact that engineering is a creative enterprise, one that requires intense imagination and sometimes lots of sweat, blood and tears.
The greatest inventors of the past were creative, intelligent thinkers who imagined solutions. This to me embodies engineering today. As a software engineer, I’m called upon to answer difficult technical problems that involve creating solutions that require innovation and invention. Engineers are modern-day inventors.
Engineers simply think differently than many other professions. This ostensibly creates differences in mindset and opinion between engineers and managers who do not think similarly; it’s that difference in thought process at work that creates strife. Successful managers, or managers who were or are developers, learn to understand the whimsical (in the playful and imaginative sense) and creative nature of engineering and empower engineers to imagine, innovate and invent.
What is it about engineering that you love? Why are you an engineer? Feel free to tweet an answer, or comment here, or even write your own blog post!