5 Myths

When it comes to selecting managers, there are common assumptions that doom many to failure

Cerri, S., February 2009

1.The great engineer 2.Just learn this task

(makes a great manager 2) (a ”no-brainer”)

3.Management by Osmosis

(watch and learn)

4.Cream rises

(winner takes all)

5.Just for a little way

(pet projects train)

http://memagazine.asme.org/Articles/

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Assignment 2: 5 Myths

Q1. Is management just another engineering skill?

Q2. What do I need to learn and to do to become an effective manager?

Thanks for your crafted essays offering insight and sound recommendations.

PLEASE cite & write COMPLETE REFERENCES (ASME style).

Types of essays: (a) Linear – paraphrased article (b) Original – personal experience and observation Few essays addressed to Q2

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KIST comments

Korea Inst Science & Technology (2010)

Today an engineer, no matter how good, needs to learn management skills

. ….

Being a good manager is achieved by knowing how to deal with people and by having people skills.

Needed skills:

self awareness, know how others work, know how to communicate, and being flexible All essays (NUS, KIST, TAMU) identify these skills as important

Team Leftovers

TAMU (2011) Engineers know how to communicate technical information to their peers and coworkers, but often have difficult time expressing general company goals

.

Remember: communicating technical information is not writing equations, running a code or showing results.

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Gilligan’s Blade

TAMU (2011) A manager must also “learn to learn” and realize that he/she is not always right. Being teachable and open to new methods…

(flexibility)

Practiced leaders know what they want, what employees want, and how to marry the two.

This is leadership.

Learn to learn

is not just for managers.

Remember ABET 2000

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The Wrecking Crew

TAMU (2011) Just being an

experienced

engineer can prepare a person for a management position in a way that formal classes cannot

.

What kind of

experience

? Please elaborate.

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The Better Team

TAMU (2011) While being a good engineer does not directly translate to being a successful manager, many of the soft skills that make a great manager are present in

exceptional

engineers

.

How can I be an exceptional engineer? What are his/her qualities. Please elaborate.

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Team Alpha

TAMU (2011) Effective management requires

exceptional

people skills…. A manager

must be humble

and make serving others a top priority to gain respect and thrust from their team.

Managers are made not born. To serve others is a worthy though very difficult practice.

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A&M Team

TAMU (2011)

Management is a no “no-brainer”!

Communication can be very effective motivational tool.

By speaking to employees as equals, it makes them feel important and valued.

A cultural trait in developed Western cultures

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Classic Style - Last Pick

TAMU (2011) Engineering and management are much more difficult than originally anticipated.

There is no right way to manage so adaptability and open communication are essential tools for success.

Begin your training now.

When negotiating your first position did you also negotiated terms for further education (MS or MBA)?

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NUS Comments

National University of Singapore (2009) Current trends suggest that it will not be long before management skills will be grouped as part of the basic set of skills an engineer needs. However, if one is content to just being an engineer, then management skills is not essential.

Skills could also be fostered from young or even in school where teamwork and interpersonal skills have abundant opportunities to develop .

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NUS comments

National University of Singapore (2009) It takes more than a brilliant engineering mind to be an effective manager……

It is not engineering knowledge, but the people harbouring that knowledge, that a manager must handle

.

.. a successful engineer not only has to possess all the fundamental skills in engineering field but also the skills of handling human relationships and the necessary management skill.

KIST comments

Korea Inst Science & Technology (2010) Successful managers need to understand how an organization performs business, in what manners their operation affects the market and how individuals and groups behave within the organization. Managers conduct performance appraisal, project scheduling and budgeting. Most important however, they have to learn the soft skills that teach how to work with people, how to motivate them and facilitate their work. If something has to be remembered is that

things are managed, people are led

.

Things are managed, people are led!

NUS Comments

National University of Singapore (2009) An effective manager is effective in his life…. effectively managing housework, homework and recreational time. Good communication skills and leadership are obtained through relationship with others. A hectic lifestyle translates to bad management of time and vice versa.

Never hope to be able to manage other people if one cannot manage his own life.

NUS comments

National University of Singapore (2009) In 2007, the Business Times found that about one-third of the most highly paid chiefs of listed companies here had engineering background.

[1] In the 2009 report from Vell Executive Search [2] , which analyzed the CEOs of 38 technology product companies,

it showed that the CEOs with engineering background helped their company grow faster. These statistics show that career-wise, engineers are versatile

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S. Cerri experience

More insights on management

What is Keeping You From Advancing Up the Technology Management Ladder http://stevencerri.com/index.php/articles/10Pitfalls/

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Pitfalls on Management:

What is Keeping You From Advancing Up the Technology Management Ladder 1.... "My ideas are my identity and therefore, I must fight for my ideas." 2.... "I'd rather be right... than be effective." 3..... "What I say is much more important than... how I say it." 4.... I'll avoid the difficult internal conversations, and the difficult interface conversations long enough for them to just go away." 5.... "I assume everyone is a professional... and will do their jobs well."

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http://stevencerri.com/index.php/articles/10Pitfalls/

Pitfalls on Management:

What is Keeping You From Advancing Up the Technology Management Ladder 6.... "If delegation doesn't work... I'll just do it myself." 7.... "I want to do what interests me, not necessarily what is strategically important." 8.... "I don't want to change myself just to talk to non technical people." 9.... "I don't have to think systemically. I'm paid to do my task." 10.. "What got me here... will get me there."

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http://stevencerri.com/index.php/articles/10Pitfalls/