When you tell someone you’re an engineer you can almost see their mind travel through the wormhole of stigmas associated with the
profession. The stereotype of engineers wearing short sleeve button downs, a black tie, black-framed glasses, and using slide rules still exists believe it or not. At a minimum, people tend to think of engineers as anti-social number-crunchers that aren’t expected to interact with other people very much, but better damn-well get those calculations right.
Number crunching is still important in engineering, although in my job as a forensic engineer and expert witness, the calculations I do are few and far between. Nevertheless, the numbers need to be correct for the bridges to stand and the rockets to launch. However, the computer checks on these calculations are substantial and getting better every day. This is what brings me to the most important part of engineering: ethics.
Notice that I didn’t say this is what I think is the most important part of engineering. This is because ethics has long been taught as the most important part of engineering, probably since the 1970s. As an undergraduate engineering student, the importance of ethics is drilled into your head just as much as the importance of accurate calculation. But the folks at the cocktail parties that draw conclusions when you tell them what you do for a living don’t know this. In fact, they know very little at all about engineering and the construction industry.
Interestingly, we often get into engineering and construction situations that are not understood by the average non-industry person (aka civilian). It can sometimes appear easy to take a path of questionable ethics that would never be understood as unethical by bystanders. Opportunity arises to sweep things under the rug and bury them in places that nobody will find. But ethics and leadership is about doing the right thing even when nobody will find out.
