lunes, 22 de febrero de 2010

About Engineering Leadership


This is a really good article that I found on the net, I strongly recommend it to everyone that's studying any branch of engineering. Check it out!


The Art of Engineering Leadership

By : Jim Pinto,
San Diego, CA.
USA

If you’re an engineering techie, whether you’re a senior engineer or raw recruit, whether you’re an instrument technician or maintenance mechanic, you can enhance your job, your results – and your pay – by acquiring some leadership skills.


This article was published by:
Automation.com, August 2004


"We previously discussed the propensity for engineers to focus on details, rather than the overall, broad picture. And that's why too few engineers become leaders. I’d like to follow on with some positive ideas on what engineers can do to develop their own leadership skills.

Understand the objectives
A leader must understand goals and have the capacity to plan the steps needed to accomplish them. This does not imply trying to understand grand corporate objectives. It means projects and schedules within your own scope of work. And go beyond that, as far as you can: Who generated the need for this project? How was it budgeted? What are the maximum and minimum results expected? What is the real urgency?
Success involves identifying the correct results required and knowing the right steps — which includes recognizing the wrong steps. Leaders must have a clear understanding of what it takes to accomplish the overall objective effectively. And that means doing the job quickly, and well. On budget, on time.

A leader does not require detailed knowledge; it suffices to have someone on the team who has the required expertise. It’s important for the leader to recognize what is needed, and where to get it. The broad knowledge is important, not the details.

Willing followers
First and foremost, leadership involves willing followers – people who are motivated to work with you to accomplish the objectives. When workers put in their best efforts, leaders must offer something in return – respect, encouragement, appreciation and reward. Getting the best out of people is the hallmark of a good leader.
Different people have different needs and motivations. Spend some time with each person on your team, listening to their ideas. Here’s an old axiom that helps: “People like to do what they’re good at, and good at what they like to do.” Understanding what a person enjoys will go a long way towards getting the best out of that person.

The days of the slave-driver are long gone; intimidation achieves very little beyond immediate acceptance by timid followers, or angry rejection by good workers. People who are yelled at may go back to do the job correctly, but it’s never their best effort. Leaders have the ability to inspire and motivate people to do their best.

TORI – Trust, Openness, Respect, Interdependence
A good leader trusts, which engenders trust. Don’t hide mistakes. When there is a setback, share your problems openly and get the team involved in solutions. Respect peoples differences and needs, their weaknesses and their strengths. Use people for their skills, and provide teamwork where experience is lacking.
Celebrate small successes. Give credit when it’s due. Get the team involved in recognition of jobs well done. When extra effort is put in, recognize and reward it appropriately. Don’t bribe – motivate.

For some, winning an argument provides a false sense of control and leadership. Good communication seeks to achieve and resolve, not to defeat or humiliate others. Never back anyone into a corner. Don’t seek to prove the other person wrong. It is important to remember that no one is always right.

Leaders have confidence in themselves, and the people working for them. No matter what the situation, when a problem comes up the leader takes responsibility. The best way to solve problems is to resolve it by focusing 100% on the solutions. And after the problem has been resolved, review the “lessons learned.” The benefit of leadership is that everyone can learn from both success and failure – bad and good experiences alike. Problem solving can be a good experience and a great builder of character and leadership.

Taking responsibility
Recognizing mistakes is often the best sign of leadership. Leaders stimulate teamwork, without blame. They expect results, and look for solutions when results are below expectations.
Think about this – taking the blame, means taking responsibility. When I was a CEO, I learned quickly that “finger-pointing” was an unfair way to shirk responsibility. I looked for people who accepted the blame when something went wrong – I promoted them quickly for taking responsibility.

If you make a mistake, admit it. It is surprising how quickly people will support someone who accepts the blame. A team quickly closes ranks and solves the problem behind a person who admits failure. Indeed, failure is “experience” which is unlikely to be repeated.

A successful senior executive at HP relates this insightful story: He was product manager for a calculator which developed keyboard reliability problems. He was called to CEO Dave Packard’s office to explain the problems, the reasons for failure and the solutions. After he presented the truth, expecting to be chewed out, he was told that he was promoted to lead the product management team on the next major product” When he asked why he was chosen, Dave Packard said simply, “You failed on your first project; it’s unlikely that you’ll fail on this next, more important project. Someone new would not have your experience.” That next product turned out to be a best-selling HP calculator.

Rewards follow success
Good leaders don’t need status to inspire support and best efforts. More money and titles follow good results. What counts most is the ability to bring out the best in others. Leaders rely on good people, and good people deliver because they know that they are relied upon.
Most important – know your customer. These are the people (inside or outside your company) for whom you are doing the work. Leaders know and care for their core customers, because they recognize that the impression they make on a customer today will dictate the tone of their relationship with that customer in the future. Satisfaction with a job well done brings customers back to generate success for all involved."

Parts of the speech


My description is based on this song that I like a lot:

Hallucinations by Angels & Airwaves

And you look real close
Cross the lines and the roads
It is there to decode
What you thought was a ghost
Or a spark to explode
It's the start of the show
It's the part you love the most
When your heart will implode within

Do you believe in hallucinations, silly dreams or imaginations
Don't go away cause I feel you this time
Don't go away cause I need you there this time

As the rain floats home
Carry us back to shore
And up the mountainous coast
Where the sun starts to glow
From our head to our toes
To the stars that we know
And with you as my host
It will keep us afloat again

Do you believe in hallucinations, silly dreams or imaginations
Don't go away cause I feel you this time
Don't go away cause I need you there this time
Do you believe in hallucinations, any dream or it's revaluation
Don't go away cause I need you there this time
Don't go away cause I'm making you all mine

The silence is taxing
I'm waiting for something
There's images of love and war
And everything's here to explore
It's all alike, unusual, a different place
But beautiful and it is not quite as it seems
I hear the children's laughs and screams

It's beautiful
So beautiful
It's beautiful

Do you believe in hallucinations, silly dreams or imaginations
Don't go away cause I feel you this time
Don't go away cause I need you there this time
Do you believe in hallucinations, any dream or it's revaluation
Don't go away cause I need you there this time
Don't go away cause I'm making you all mine

Parts:

Hallucination:
Main Entry: hal·lu·ci·na·tion
Pronunciation: \hə-ˌlü-sə-ˈnā-shən\
Function: noun
Date: 1629
1 a : perception of objects with no reality usually arising from disorder of the nervous system or in response to drugs (as LSD) b : the object so perceived
2 : an unfounded or mistaken impression or notion : delusion

Spark:
Main Entry: 1spark
Pronunciation: \ˈspärk\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English sparke, from Old English spearca; akin to Middle Dutch sparke spark and perhaps to Latin spargere to scatter
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a small particle of a burning substance thrown out by a body in combustion or remaining when combustion is nearly completed b : a hot glowing particle struck from a larger mass; especially : one heated by friction
2 a : a luminous disruptive electrical discharge of very short duration between two conductors separated by a gas (as air) b : the discharge in a spark plug c : the mechanism controlling the discharge in a spark plug
3 : sparkle, flash
4 : something that sets off a sudden force
5 : a latent particle capable of growth or developing : germ
6 plural but sing in constr : a radio operator on a ship

Implode:
Main Entry: im·plode
Pronunciation: \im-ˈplōd\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): im·plod·ed; im·plod·ing
Etymology: 2in- + -plode (as in explode)
Date: 1881
intransitive verb
1 a : to burst inward (a blow causing a vacuum tube to implode) b : to undergo violent compression
2 : to collapse inward as if from external pressure; also : to become greatly reduced as if from collapsing
3 : to break down or fall apart from within : self-destruct
transitive verb: to cause to implode

Silly:
Main Entry: sil·ly
Pronunciation: \ˈsi-lē\
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): sil·li·er; sil·li·est
Etymology: Middle English sely, silly happy, innocent, pitiable, feeble, from Old English sǣlig, from sǣl happiness; akin to Old High German sālig happy
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : helpless, weak
2 a : rustic, plain b obsolete : lowly in station : humble
3 a : weak in intellect : foolish b : exhibiting or indicative of a lack of common sense or sound judgment (a very silly mistake) c : trifling, frivolous
4 : being stunned or dazed

lunes, 1 de febrero de 2010

Using online Dictionaries to understand articles


Telecommunications is one of the fastest-growing areas of technology in the world. Because of its rapid growth, businesses and individuals can access information at electronic speed from almost anywhere in the world. By including telecommunications in their operations, businesses can provide better services and products to their customers. For individuals, telecommunications provides access to worldwide information and services.

telecommunications:
n.
1.The science and technology of communication at a distance by electronic transmission of impulses, as by telegraph, cable, telephone, radio, or television. Often used in the plural with a singular verb: Telecommunications is an important area of professional growth.
2.The electronic systems used in transmitting messages, as by telegraph, cable, telephone, radio, or television. Often used in the plural with a plural verb: Telecommunications were disrupted by the brownout.
3.A message so transmitted.

technology:
1.
a.The application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives.
b.The scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective.
2.Electronic or digital products and systems considered as a group: a store specializing in office technology.
3.Anthropology. The body of knowledge available to a society that is of use in fashioning implements, practicing manual arts and skills, and extracting or collecting materials.

source: http://www.answers.com/