Priority Interrupt by Steve Ciarcia Ranting from Down Under

It’s hard to be eloquent all of the time. I realize that many of you immediately turn to my editorial when you receive your monthly issue but try not to be too disappointed if I haven’t said anything particularly earth-shattering. I have a love-hate relationship with editorials. The good news is that I love having a vehicle to address a courageous group of technically astute readers. The bad news is that if people think that’s a crock, then I’d be forced to admit that I’m basically unemployable, and I had better not screw up this job.

I realize Circuit Cellar isn’t exactly the best medium to exercise all of my interests, but sometimes I ask your indulgence while a frustrated humorist occasionally does his thing. Unfortunately, one reader thought I was enjoying myself too much, and he wanted me back on my trusty, albeit dry, soapbox.

In my subsequent correspondence with John, it was apparent that he felt my editorial page would have been better used to direct social change. Describing a service call for my BMW just didn’t hack it. His feeling was that the technical community needs a "voice for the people," and that every editorial opportunity should contain something of substance. For example, John was very upset about what he perceived as the denigration of the engineering profession.

Say what? Obviously, John has a lot of engineering experience. More importantly, he’s been around long enough to have worked for some very inept managers or felt that responsibility and reward were parceled out incorrectly. Yes, John, I am an engineer who is solidly in management, but I’m now in the publishing business and not manufacturing business anymore. The kinds of skills I need to pass along to my staff at this point are how to stay on focus with marketing and editorial goals, not how to design projects better than my authors.

At the same time, I truly understand your plight, John. It’s very common for large companies to spend considerable effort hiring the brightest engineers only to turn around later and undermine that talent. One day you are the bright staff engineer who creates the company’s newest, most profitable product. What do they want you to do next? They make you a manager and ask you to juggle spreadsheets to put it into production.

I don’t think there is any great conspiracy going on. The fact that the professional ladder has more rungs on the nontechnical side is a consequence of the fact that engineering is typically only a small portion of product development and marketing staffs. Some companies don’t have the luxury of dual professional paths, and higher-compensation jobs are, by consequence of the majority, non-engineering. Only if a company sells engineering or design services, or has lots of engineers, will you typically find the technical management structure you seek.

Most modern management "technique" is really being defined by consequence. If there is any "short" part to be concerned about, it is today’s short business development cycle. Our current boom-and-bust mentality has created a condition where management positions are filled or eliminated very swiftly, and "management" has become a generic position. If there is anything shortsighted, it is that creating the proper structure to retain the technical expertise to design the next product seems to only concern a few forward-thinking companies.