Four Rules for Engineers

  1. Don’t lie1.
  2. Don’t cheat.
  3. Don’t steal.
  4. When somebody gives you something stupid to do, get it off your desk as fast as possible.

Guidance with respect to Rule 4: Rule 4 does not necessarily mean you have to do the stupid thing. It could mean talking the action owner back onto this planet, or it could mean handing it off to somebody who cannot tell the difference. If, however, you choose to do the job then do it plausibly well and get it over with…the only thing stupider would be having to do it again. In any case, don’t leave it sit: that just lends it credibility.

Some engineers like to add a Rule 5: if somebody’s about to pitch you under the bus, it is OK to pitch them first. I don’t agree this should be a rule…a standard practice, maybe, but not a rule.

Footnotes
  1. Or be Terminologically Inexact[↩]