What Bricklayers Can Teach Us About Our Engineering Careers

Engineering Management Institute What Bricklayers can Teach us About our Engineering Careers Patrick Sweet, P.Eng. I was recently reminded of a parable I had heard many years in the past. In the story, there are three bricklayers working on a wall for a church. Someone asks the first bricklayer what he’s doing. He says, “I’m building a wall.” The second bricklayer is asked the same query and replies, “I’m constructing a church.” Finally, the third bricklayer is requested what he’s doing, and he says, “I’m constructing the house of God.” What do the three males’s answers tell us about how they understand their work? The first bricklayer’s reply is focused on the duty and nothing extra. He sees bricklaying as a job. The second bricklayer sees the larger picture and is aware of he’s making an necessary contribution to the project as a whole. He sees his occupation as a career. The third bricklayer sees his work as being integral to changing people’s lives for the better. He sees his work as a calling. All three men are doing the same work from an o utsider’s perspective, but their inside inclinations are all very completely different. Why your internal disposition issues… You might marvel why it issues that the bricklayers see their work in another way. After all, if they’re equally good at laying bricks, what distinction does it make? As it happens, it makes a world of difference. The method you view your work can utterly change your stage of engagement together with your work and in flip, the standard of your work. When you see your work as nothing more than a job, it can be onerous to care an entire lot concerning the quality of the work. It’s onerous to motivate yourself to put in the effort that's wanted. You show up, put in your time, and go house. If, however, you see your work as a profession, then you consider what you do in a different way. Your work becomes a part of one thing bigger than your self and your occupation becomes a step in direction of one thing higher in a while in life. Your motivation and lif e satisfaction improves and you do higher work. Finally, should you see your work as a calling, you really believe that you're offering value to the world you reside in. You are keen about your work, and you help others to really feel that same drive. You love what you do and would probably do it at no cost. When you believe you could make the world a greater place, you often do. How do you view your engineering work? Which bricklayer mindset do you employ? If you see your self as being extra like the first, but wanting to be more like the second or third, how are you going to bridge the gap? I’ve been in all three positions at various times in my profession. It’s normal and pure for engagement and viewpoints to fluctuate. I believe, nevertheless, that we should always all try to find a calling. If that’s not the place you're in your profession (which is the majority of people), I challenge you right now to acknowledge that reality and suppose through what steps you may have the ability to take to change your scenario. After all, who would need to build a wall after they might be constructing the home of God? Or if we think of this as engineers, who would wish to construct a bridge, when you can facilitate millions of individuals attending to their destinations…. About Patrick Sweet Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA is a product and engineering management marketing consultant, speaker, and the creator of EngineeringAndLeadership.com . He helps engineering teams and OEMs create worthwhile merchandise, increase productivity, and manage complexity. You can attain Patrick at or @engileader. Please leave your comments, feedback or questions within the part beneath on what bricklayers can teach us about your engineering career. To your success, Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP Engineering Management Institute