The Four Types of Problems all Engineers must Solve
May, 2019
In your engineering work, problems will occur under four basic categories.
- General problems which have already been solved by someone in your company (i.e. calculations using already developed spreadsheets).
- General problems which have not been solved by someone in your company, but there are common solutions throughout the industry (i.e. time-sheet management software that integrates project budgets).
- Problems that seem unique at first, but upon investigation fall under Category 1 or 2.
- Specific problems neither your company nor the industry has solved.
Categorize your problems to increase your effectiveness.
Category 1 problems should have generic solutions. Develop practices, policies or templates stored in a common library for you and your team to reference. This common library of solutions also helps create a decentralized approach to making decisions. Anyone on your team can pull the required material to solve these generic problems. Delegation becomes easier.
Category 2 problems should be solved in consultation with others. Either outside or inside your teams. Someone will have a solution and then the problem gets downgraded to Category 1.
Category 3 problems can be flushed out through the discovery process followed for Category 2 problems.
Category 4 problems are the ones that have the power to improve your company, your community and beyond. These are the problems that can define a lifetime of work. These are the truly rare societal challenges: Clean water. Advanced transportation. Sustainable energy.
Every engineer should have one Category 4 problem they have identified, defined and are committed to solving over the course of their careers. *The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. (William James)
Action Item: Make a list of problems you are encountering today. Classify them according to this method. Seek solutions.