Asking how something can be improved... 1

[KBeitel]

The quick question I have is, "How do you respond to the question HOW CAN THIS BE IMPROVED? if you were the one asking it initially and it is just fired back at you?"

Take care & have fun!

Kevin
"Hell, there are no rules here -- we're trying to accomplish something." - Thomas A. Edison

 

[MadMango]

Everyone should be open to criticism. In the engineering realm however, criticism should come with suggestions for an alternate solution. Refrain from criticizing unless you have an alternative bouncing around in your head.

I would reply that I don't have the right answer now, but I'm sure if we find time to brainstorm some ideas offline, we'll find a solution as a group.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[FACS]

We could improve it by making it better.

Charlie

http://www.facsco.com

 

[SnTMan]

"By "improve" do you mean make it better or make it cheaper?"

Regards,

Mike

 

[rcooper]

Making it cheaper is improving it if the quality or performance is not adversely effected.

 

[SnTMan]

rcooper, true, I just meant we need to define the problem, as in everything else we do.

Regards,

Mike

 

[MikeHalloran]

Something they taught my kids in law school:

"Never ask a question to which you do not know the answer."


Seems appropriate here.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[ajack1]

Mike Halloran says, "Never ask a question to which you do not know the answer."

If that is the case I waste a hell of a lot of money employing accountants, solicitors and the like.

 

[GregLamberson]

As with anything, you improve something with a systematic process. And that starts with the question you asked - how can it be improved.

It depends on what the prodcut or process is. Continuous improvement forces you to always be looking for ways to improve effeciency, lower costs, improve performance, etc.

The worst statement you can make is - "that's the way we've always done it". There is not too much that can't be improved upon, you need experienced people to be involved and ask questions.

Greg Lamberson
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:

http://www.oil-gas-consulting.com

 

[prohammy]

"How do you respond to the question HOW CAN THIS BE IMPROVED? if you were the one asking it initially and it is just fired back at you?"

Good question KBeitel!!!!

You have split the question into two parts....

1. Personally, if you are working as an engineer (especially true for design engineers, slight bias here) then you should ask this question of every project/design/drawing in which you are involved. It is the basis of design. In design terms, there are many different aspects that you look at. Reduce part count, reduce cost, increase functionality, incorpoate new technology etc. All these are the foundations for 'HOW CAN THIS BE IMPROVED?'

2. If you are asked this question then as a design engineer, I would hope my response would be...'I have been looking at this problem and have come up with some proposals'. This is the ideal scenario, but a good fall back position is 'This looks similar to XXX that we looked at before, maybe we can adapt XXX for this situation.



Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[atlas06]

Mike Halloran says, "Never ask a question to which you do not know the answer."

Probably good for lawyers at the bar but no one else.

Not to pick on you Mr halloran, but my teacher used to say: "there are no stupid questions, there are only stupid people".

 

[PSE]

For figuring out how to improve something, look at how it can (or does) fail. Not only from an engineering perspective, but from a user/sales/economics perspective. A flawless product without a market is still a failure.

Praise be to the person who suffers through coming up with new designs and then puts them up for others (like me) to rip into them. It is not an easy thing to do. It is much easier to criticize than it is to create.

Regards,

 

[MikeHalloran]

Sorry, Atlas, you have to take a number to pick on me. Your number is 92. I am now serving number 4, but perhaps this will keep your mind occupied while you wait:

What do you suppose your teacher meant by that strange aphorism?

1. That any person who would ask a question, was by dint therof, stupid? And the corollary; that any person who suppressed a question, was therefore smart?

2. That all people are stupid?

3. That the particular respondent, e.g. me, was stupid?

..1.. is contrary to my experience.
..2.. may be true some of the time, but not all of the time.
..3.. see 2

To me, the aphorism suggests that the teacher used it as a way to keep the class quiet and shut down their creative development so they would listen complacently to yet more pseudobabble.

Which I find disappointing, coming from someone whose job is nominally to reduce ignorance.

;--- back on point,

The Original Post, as posed, suggests that the protagonist engineer speaks first, asking a question, perhaps to no one, more likely to someone farther up the chain of command.

If you ask questions aloud of yourself, you may become a subject of discussion. If you answer yourself, maybe you will merely be perceived as the weird engineer who thinks out loud.

If you ask the posted question of a peer, the response will probably be an answer, or a shrug.

If you ask the posted question of a person of superior rank, you have to understand that that person is probably not equipped to answer a technical question, is not willing to go out on a limb over a style question, is likely to interpret any open ended question as a polite way of leading up to a suggestion, and may have been specifically trained to deflect any question with a mirror response to gain time to think of an answer and consider its political consequences.

I.e., if you ask a question of anyone but a peer, and don't have a putative answer of your own ready, you will be perceived as ... well, being strange, or not being the sharpest knife in the drawer. Since engineers are paid to be sharp, it could even be a career decision.

That's why I think the lawyers' aphorism is appropriate for engineers, too; certainly in the stated scenario.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[winpop123]

Thats easy...

Response is " I asked the question first you tell me HOW CAN THIS BE IMPROVED"

when its your turn the response is "Great answer"!

If you are forced to go first, your answer is "I don't know."

 

[kchayfie]

If I remember correctly, the socratic method of teaching involves reflecting your question back and making you rephrase it and narrow it down until you end up answering the question yourself. If you asked the question of a mentor or someone with more experience, they were probably trying to get you thinking about it for yourself instead of spoon-feeding the information.

What was the context of the question anyway? That would make it easier for us to give you a suitable answer...

 

[MadMango]

Being in engineering, your answer should never be "I don't know." It can be, "I don't know, but I'll find out." or "I don't have enough data to give you an answer now." We are supposed to know, or at least have the capability to find out. If we didn’t have to know the answers or know where to find them, we'd all be meteorologists (the only job I know where you can be wrong more than right and still be employed).

Usually when people ask "how" they are genuinely looking for a solution, since they don't have one. In some instances it may be asked as a leading question for training/educational purposes.

As to the "there are no stupid questions, there are only stupid people" comment, I think that might be misquoted. But the idea trying to be conveyed is that asking questions is the path to knowledge. If you never ask questions, you will remain ignorant.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[pauljohn]

atlas06
I agree with you that sounds like a lawyer saying but I remember the quote as "there are no stupid questions only stupid people who never ask a question".

 

[csd72]

To answer this question you need to take off your engineers hat and look at it like your the client. Does it meet all of the clients expectations, are there any ways that you can give added value with little or no added cost, think about how it will be used/built/manufactured and if there is anything that can be done to make these easier.

It can be the most technically advanced design that you have ever made, but it is a failure if it doesnt meet the project requirements.

Hope this helps.

 

[bvanhiel]

Sorry, Atlas, you have to take a number to pick on me. Your number is 92. I am now serving number 4, but perhaps this will keep your mind occupied while you wait:

What do you suppose your teacher meant by that strange aphorism?

1. That any person who would ask a question, was by dint therof, stupid? And the corollary; that any person who suppressed a question, was therefore smart?

2. That all people are stupid?

3. That the particular respondent, e.g. me, was stupid?

..1.. is contrary to my experience.
..2.. may be true some of the time, but not all of the time.
..3.. see 2

I'm cutting in line.

Mike, you've got it backwards. The meaning: people who don't ask questions remain stupid.

-b

 

[dcasto]

I'd answer with, "We've been reviewing that same question. It is about time we start answering that one and here is how we plan to improve IT. We are going to go into the Quality improvement model based on Statistical Process Control (SPC). This process will take several months to get started and really start showing reults within a year. We will need better measurement tools and some people trained in the process. Are you ready to join us on this process?"

Its the ending with a question that will get them just like they got you.

Have fun