The unwritten laws of engineering

I learned a lot of things in engineering school. I learned the basics of electricity and electronics. I learned circuit theory, communications theory and digital electronics. But when I got my first job, I found there were a lot of things I didn't learn in college. I bumped into this series of three articles in Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online that covers a lot of what I and many other engineers didn't learn in college. Here are links to the three articles.

Part 1: 

a) In relation to the work

b) In relation to your supervisor

c) Regarding relations with colleagues and outsiders.

This section covers what you need to know when you're first starting out. Remember that no job is too small. You need to demonstrate that you can be trusted with small projects before you are given more advanced projects where more is on the line. Enthusiasm for the job counts. One of the big things in this section that I still have trouble with is speaking up and promoting my ideas. It's never too late to learn things. This section also covers the importance of dealing with other people. The good and the bad. It's important to cultivate the habit of working with other people. You need to solicit their ideas, too. 

Part 2: 

a) Individual behavior and technique

b) Managing design and development projects

c) On organizational structures

d) What all managers owe their employees. 

The second section carries on from the first. It's important to learn not to try to do it all yourself. This part is for when you are further along in your career. Presumably at this point, you've settled into the com[any structure and made a niche for yourself. This section also discusses the importance of learning to make concise decisions and wading through all the details of a problem and boiling it down to its essentials. At this point, you will be starting to run a project and this section discusses the way to do that. Finally, this section covers the situation when you take the supervising of other people.  You have to treat people right to get them to contribute to a team.

Part 3:

a) Laws of character and responsibility

b) Regarding behavior in the workplace

c) Regarding career and personal development

This last section is really for anyone. It's not just about engineering or even working in a company. It's just plain, good advice for anyone. It ends with a section on developing a career and looking toward your future. It's not that you're going to immediately be looking for a better opportunity as soon as your start working at a job. It's more that you need to keep in mind that everything you do at your job will reflect on you if you do want to (or need to) look for another job. Don't forget that it's important to keep learning. School never ends!

What is especially interesting to me about this series of articles is that they were first published in 1944. These "laws" are just as relevant today as they were then. Some things just never go out of style. 

[UPDATE: These articles are no longer available for free on that website. They have all been collected in a book (with revisions and additions). The book can be purchase online at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers site or at Amazon.]