What Can Managers Learn From Engineers

Solving problems is what engineers do. They solve problems or otherwise take the current situation and try to make it a better one. There are four ways managers can learn from engineers:

1. Embrace restraints. Engineers are all about working with constraints and trade-offs (time, budget, location, materials). The perfect management solution never exists - identify the best solution given the restraints.
2. Take a risk. Change does not happen without taking chances. Engineers are comfortable with the notion that they might be wrong, but still they experiment and try new approaches.
3. Question everything. Answers are important, of course, but first come the questions (and the question might just be the answer). Engineers are used to asking myriad questions that lead to the right question - which will lead to the right answer.
4. It's not about the tools, it's about the ideas. Engineers from various fields spend a lot of time away for new technology tools, using pencil and paper to sketch out their ideas.