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  • 1.  Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 08-20-2019 04:38 PM
    Edited by Tirza Austin 08-20-2019 04:38 PM

    In the paper[1]"How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management," perhaps the most unaddressed part of the system of management is the human side. Human Systems Engineering recognizes and includes, with the same attention to detail as applications dealing with the technical side, anticipatable people-driven issues at the project, organizational, and individual level. The role of each component of the system of management is not to optimize its part, but to focus on the intended outcome for that system. The specifics that follow are translatable, fundamental parts of the system of management derived from the application of Forensic Management."

    It occurred to me that we would gain priceless insights going forward, by looking backwards at a very public failure of the current ASCE Code of Ethics. One example is in the case of the Flint, Michigan, Water Quality matter, as studied and reported by Dr. Marc Edwards, P.E.

    The cast of public and private civil engineers involved from the very beginning and the paths they selected to state publically, compared to what they actually did privately offers an opportunity to move away from philosophy into the real world.  @Brock Barry and @Dwayne Culp I would be interested to hear your thoughts.  

                               Selected C-Span Video Clips [3]  

     

                             "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."

                                                                                  --George Santayana

     

     

    [1] Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities February 2007 Volume 21, Issue 1 (2 - 3)Online publication date: February 01, 2007
    And the Flint, MI, piece is CRITICAL to this thread.

    [2]https://www.c-span.org/video/?404989-3/washington-journal-marc-edwards-flint-michigan-water-contamination&start=2078&transcriptQuery=flint

    ​​

    ------------------------------
    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
    ------------------------------
    ​​​​​


  • 2.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 08-21-2019 01:20 PM
    Edited by Tirza Austin 08-21-2019 05:23 PM
      |   view attached

    "It occurred to me that we would gain priceless insights going forward, by first looking back at very public failures of the current ASCE Code of Ethics."

    Well, of course that's our next step!

    It's what competent engineers do!

    For example, when a Structural Engineering Department Head realizes that a particular connection has caused repeated fabrication and installation problems, their first step is to gather data and information on failed connections from various perspectives before planning, designing, and eventually releasing a new connection.

    That's exactly what this next professional step is about.

    Seek first to understand before we start to prescribe "The Obvious Solution."

    A Code of Ethics (CoE) doesn't solve challenging real-world engineering ethical challenges. Our civil engineers do. What might we learn from studying our civil engineers past ethical failures to guide the formation of a revised ASCE Code of Ethics that supports the desired behaviors of our civil engineers. One specific failure I know of centers on the people who depended on Civil Engineers to deliver what they said was true. . . face-2-face, in the newspapers, on TV, in front of congressional committees. . .  "The water is safe for you and your children to drink." And it turned out, based on the verbal and written testimony of civil engineering experts, they were lying[1].

    The attachment is an unverified list from a newspaper of the events over some 4 years or so. I did go to the Michigan ASCE online site and was unable to find any specific information on this matter. I trust you will have examples of other serious breaches of trust based on our Code of Ethics to share. Our edited revisions to yet another "New and improved" version will be meaningless without first understanding why the current Code of Ethics had, apparently, little to no restraining force to the unethical work of and by some civil engineers.

    Cheers,
    Bill

    [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/01/16/feature/they-helped-expose-unsafe-lead-levels-in-flints-and-in-d-c-s-water-then-they-turned-on-each-other/



    ------------------------------
    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    docx
    Flint.MI.Timeline.docx   19 KB 1 version


  • 3.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 08-22-2019 08:29 AM
    Edited by Tirza Austin 08-22-2019 08:29 AM
    Let's also determine if the ASCE Code of Ethics, or even any code of ethics, was applicable to the civil engineers in the Flint case.

    For example, were the CEs ASCE members? If yes, then, in an ideal world, the ASCE code was applicable.

    Were the CE's licensed as PEs? if yes, then the licensing jurisdiction's code of ethics, or whatever it is called, was applicable.

    Might hundreds of thousands of U.S. engineers in all disciplines not be  "under" any code of ethics because they are not licensed and because they do not belong to an engineering society?

    ------------------------------
    Stu Walesh PhD, PE
    Consultant - Teacher - Author
    www.HelpingYouEngineerYour
    Future.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 08-23-2019 05:23 PM
    Good point Stuart, about unlicensed engineers and those of other professions not being legally subject to a code of ethics.  I particularly appreciated Charles Haas' post about the importance of teaching a serious ethic course to all engineering students.  He posted an article about the tragic consequences in Nazi Germany of engineers and other technicians who pursued their work as if it's success was their only goal, without considering a the terrible human consequences of their work. 

    I recently re-read "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and very successful Minister of Armaments Production. Speer was one of the few high ranking ministers who took responsibility in Nuremberg for his actions. In his book he confirms first hand that the many engineers, architects and technicians who worked to fulfill Hitler's agenda were driven only by their assigned duties, with no thought to the human consequences. 

    As you state, there are many unregistered engineers who are not subject to a code of ethics. My opinion is that all technical professionals need to receive serious ethical training at the college or university level, even in two-year associate degree programs.  Even if they are never registered or members of an association with a Code, at least they will be sensitized to their duty to public health, safety and the well being of the human race.

    ------------------------------
    Bevin Beaudet P.E., M.ASCE
    President/Owner
    Bevin A. Beaudet, P.E., LLC.
    West Palm Beach FL
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 08-21-2019 03:05 PM
    This is why it should be an idea, to extend ethics onto an organizational level. No matter what accident comes to my mind, Volkswagen Diesel, Boing max, the dam in South America,....    It seems a kind of organizational pressures played a role.

    ------------------------------
    Tino Bretschneider Ph.D., P.E., S.E., M.ASCE
    Senior Engineer
    Elmwood Park IL
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 10-06-2019 08:35 AM
    If I may continue. . . . .

    By the very nature of our education and experience, civil engineers are to act as trusted public advisors regarding
    unambiguous and timely outspoken advice regarding the public's right to know the state of their safety
    regarding heath, safety and welfare.

    As to the shameful back story of the Flint, MI., poisoned water supply that went initially undetected, and once known,
    remained in place while well-educated professional men and woman did all they could to distance themselves from liability related to
    that situations health/life threatening effects, I ask what public role did ASCE take in the interests of that publics right for straight-talk about their health, safety and welfare:
    a. At the local level?
    b. County/State Level?
    c. National Level?

    Have the lessons-learned from the horrific Flint, MI., experience resulted in any ASCE National initiative(s) to 'raise the bar' at the local level nationally?

    If we intend to rewrite our 21st Century "ASCE Code of Ethics" and expect it to be taken both professionally and seriously, then lets do so as we say in 
    a well-known card game, play with "All cards face up!"
    Cheers,
    Bill





    ------------------------------
    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 10-07-2019 10:17 AM
    Edited by Tirza Austin 10-07-2019 10:17 AM

    Bill:

    Do you (or others) know if any of those "well-educated professional men and woman" were licensed engineers? I've been moderately tracking the Flint story but have not seen explicit reference to engineering licensure.

    This reminds me of a statement by Elliot Krause in his 1996 book Death of the Guilds. After discussing the heavy influence of the bottom line on U.S. engineering since the 1940s, when licensure exemptions began, he flat out says: "The codes of ethics of engineering societies are mere pieces of paper, and the officers of the associations that have drafted codes are practically all in corporate management."

    I am studying the status of U.S. engineering and am beginning to see how the essentially omnipresent licensure exemptions (almost all U.S. states and territories, impacting roughly 80% of all graduate engineers, engaging all engineering disciplines, and involving a wide spectrum of engineered products and facilities) have emasculated U.S. engineering and probably resulted in unnecessary deaths, injuries, and destruction -- and maybe lousy drinking water in Flint. Recall that many CEs in government and utility employment are explicitly included in the exemptions.

    What is the truth about "our" codes?


    Stuart G. Walesh, Ph.D., P.E.
    Consultant - Teacher - Author
    Tel: 219-464-1704
    Cell: 219-242-1704
    Website: www.HelpingYouEngineerYourFuture.com
    www.linkedin.com/in/stuwalesh



    ------Original Message------

    If I may continue. . . . .

    By the very nature of our education and experience, civil engineers are to act as trusted public advisors regarding
    unambiguous and timely outspoken advice regarding the public's right to know the state of their safety
    regarding heath, safety and welfare.

    As to the shameful back story of the Flint, MI., poisoned water supply that went initially undetected, and once known,
    remained in place while well-educated professional men and woman did all they could to distance themselves from liability related to
    that situations health/life threatening effects, I ask what public role did ASCE take in the interests of that publics right for straight-talk about their health, safety and welfare:
    a. At the local level?
    b. County/State Level?
    c. National Level?

    Have the lessons-learned from the horrific Flint, MI., experience resulted in any ASCE National initiative(s) to 'raise the bar' at the local level nationally?

    If we intend to rewrite our 21st Century "ASCE Code of Ethics" and expect it to be taken both professionally and seriously, then lets do so as we say in 
    a well-known card game, play with "All cards face up!"
    Cheers,
    Bill





    ------------------------------
    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
    ------------------------------


  • 8.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 10-07-2019 12:14 PM
    Stuart, I don't know Michigan's exemption rules, but in my experience in other states, a construction permit for drinking water systems, new or modifications, require signed and sealed plans and specs. This is absolutely true if the project is funded by a State Revolving (SRF) loan.

    ------------------------------
    Bevin Beaudet P.E., M.ASCE
    President/Owner
    Bevin A. Beaudet, P.E., LLC.
    West Palm Beach FL
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Code of Ethics: How to Transform Failure into Success: Forensic Management

    Posted 10-08-2019 03:33 PM
      |   view attached
    • Morals versus Ethics

    At the end of the day, you do not have to read it to know the right thing to do.

    Cheers,
    Bill

    ------------------------------
    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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