Engineering Studies, Careers, and Transitions
How are these related?
This post has a few tips on how to view engineering careers, avoid setbacks, and moderate the pain you feel as a sports fan when your team goes through punishing defeats or losing streaks. If we change the way we view progress and teams – using Badger Football at a metaphor – we can all get ahead and along better.
95 yards: “just more room to work” (Wikimedia)
The following is an appendix to this post, found in the book How to Develop Your Executive Ability, by Daniel Starch.
While there may be disagreements over rankings, omissions, etc., this list of classics is passed forward for those that want suggestions for what sorts of reading might broaden their horizons. In the opinion of that author, one of the best ways to nourish your creative powers is to “read widely the writings and records of the greatest minds of all time. ” As engineers, creativity is one of our greatest assets, and for leaders, he states:
We read to be entertained, to be instructed, and to be uplifted. Executives, on whose shoulders rests the responsible conduct of affairs, employing the millions of workers, particularly need to read for all three of these purposes in order to keep that inner balance necessary to judge wisely, decide soundly, and manage successfully.
Each came with a score, representing composite judgment input from 100 distinguished persons. Entries 101-106 are if one considers the writings of Shakespeare as a single book, and/or one just likes to see more books.
On to the list.
Why would a book about executives be relevant to engineers? Well, a couple reasons. This is a relatively old book (published in 1943, with corresponding language), and engineers for the most part love artifacts. The author, Daniel Starch, was a professor at Harvard and the University of Wisconsin (hence a Badger connection). The author uses a variety of surveys and semi-quantitative measures to get his points across, which might appeal to someone with a numerical bent. But more profoundly, given the challenges of the world, couldn’t we hope for more dispassionate, objective, results-oriented leaders in business and government, possibly drawing from a technical background? One hopes so.
Why are better leaders needed?
To start off with a brief disclaimer: I’m not a nutrition expert, and I’d be perfectly satisfied if it were practical just to eat carrots and peanut butter. However, as one grows older and increasingly incapable of eating junk food and soft drinks without feeling the aftereffects, it makes sense to explore more diet options. You are welcome to be vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, paleo, etc as each suits you. But one nutrition plan in particular – the ketogenic diet – seems to line up with some of my personal objectives, and it has characteristics that might appeal to an engineering mind. I’m exploring it, before the impacts of my [bad] life choices catch up to me.
THE BEAST IS WAITING
© 2024 Badger Crossroads
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
Recent Comments