To the wiser (older folks), how has the profession changed? 19

[ManifestDestiny]

Hi all

I've been binging a lot on documentaries lately, mostly on the grand old stuff that still amazes today, Concorde, SR-71, Apollo etc. Over the weekend me and some friends were catching up for some beers and inevitably it lead to the usual workplace whinge. We surmised that there are really no new problems, just new and innovative ways of F$&@ing something up, and every 5-7 years you just add another zero to the cost of the F$&@ up. Some of these folks were older than me (early 40's) so really still too young to be in the age of the grand stuff, who would be at least at retirement age and beyond by now. I think the majority of Engineers these days are pretty well acclimatised to the corporate buzzwords, sterile leadership, politics and smoke and mirrors that is the western corporate world (it seems to infect the anglo countries more than the europeans). As a young Engineer (29), I'm worried that we may never know what good leadership ever looked like and what professionalism and the craft of engineering really means.

So my question, whats changed? Has it changed? No doubt office politics and boondoggle's still happened, but I can only imagine the look on Kelly Johnson face at Lockheed or George Mueller when he was leading the Apollo program if you told them to "think outside the box", "innovate with blue sky thinking" or (I love this one) "leverage our technology stack". I'm sure the good stuff still exists, but I'm yet to see or hear about it.

What were the keys to success of those grand old projects?

 

[beej67]

You know, I'd never considered that, IRstuff. And I cook a lot, and I do that stuff in my head a lot. I guess it's just second nature so I never thought about the fact that I'm doing exactly what you describe.

These sorts of discussions are what make Eng-Tips enriching. Thanks.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[snarkysparky]

What I see from an electrical background is a lowering of managements technical skills. My managers from the last decade or so would hire you and put you at a desk and walk away. That's fine if you can *find* the work that is useful. I look to them for at least some guidance as what would be good to improve. They only say " you are expected to find the work" without a shred of a hint. Or if they do manage to offer some wisdom you are left with WTF ?? in your head for the next couple of days. As far as management they are providing nothing at all but still drawing the check. The reason is they don't have a clue and want you to manage for them. But don't make a mistake or it's all you.
Management is too much infused with bean counters and MBA's. But this is exactly how you fail to innovate.