Let me attempt to answer your question in a simple but different way. Suppose you are given an assignment – that is rather well-established in methods, codes, etc. Therefore managers and colleagues will expect you to do it accordingly but with due diligence (sometimes it could happen that you find discrepancies in the process; you are expected to bring it to notice).
But perhaps your curiosity landed you – to discover a new and innovative method (either through internet – which is in our fingertips, thanks to technological advances – or by your own innovation).
As a budding professional, it is only expected that you communicate that to the leader/manager. It is likely that the leader will examine it, and if found sound and cost-effective, and have other potentials – he or she will quickly invite the client to a meeting to explain it. If everything goes fine and the client is satisfied – in all likelihood, he or she will jump on it – and will grant additional resources to refine the method, etc. And voila, you may have just gotten a boost in your career path. The employer will love it, and the client will like to have you in their next project.
In an ideal world – that is how it is expected to work. In a real world – things may get twisted, or may not. But you should hope for the best.
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Dr. Dilip Barua, Ph.D, P.Eng, M. ASCE
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Website:
https://widecanvas.weebly.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-28-2019 14:21
From: Aditya Deshmukh
Subject: Creativity and productivity
I think you hit the topic very closely to my question. I understand from a business point that creativity should not be at the cost of exceeding budget, but would you agree with me if I say it has a very important process in an engineer's career, and sometimes the budget should come secondary to the stride that we engineers try to put forward to advance engineering as a whole from these small efficiencies I refer to as "creativity" here? I think there is a beauty to engineering which roots from creativity and ends with producing engineering marvels that we see around us. Business just has a significant role in this process, a necessity I might say.
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Aditya Deshmukh EIT,A.M.ASCE
Staff Geotechnical Professional
Lansdale PA
Original Message:
Sent: 03-28-2019 13:56
From: Dilip Barua
Subject: Creativity and productivity
Creativity that leads to efficiency and perhaps to high productivity – is something everyone wants – both the employer and the client. But if creativity – albeit very laudable and may ultimately benefit the company (in innovative methods, products and services) – comes at the cost of exceeding the budget (that's where timesheet comes in) – then no one wants it. What all want is due diligence in the services of an engineer that are technically sound, within time and budget – and are defensible from all different angles.
There are some great discussions here.
Timesheet appears nuisance – I have not met anyone who likes it – from top to the bottom. But our modern management framework – not invented by engineers but by business schools – says that it is the best way to go to control and manage things. Managing things by looking into timesheets – is like saying: I do not care what you do, as long as you show the billing hours for the client and are within the budget. Sound management practice? I doubt it. Instead, managing things should be viewed from interactive and proactive perspectives – in a team spirit to create a good product.
For fee-contracts, timesheets are absolutely necessary for billing the client. But for lump sum multi-year, multimillion dollar contracts – the necessity of timesheets becomes redundant. The client has less care for it – the employers if they do it, they would be wasting time and resources (because there have to be some other people to administer timesheets) – in addition, at the cost of inhibiting employee spirit and productivity.
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Dr. Dilip Barua, Ph.D, P.Eng, M. ASCE
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Website: https://widecanvas.weebly.com
Original Message:
Sent: 03-27-2019 13:51
From: Aditya Deshmukh
Subject: Creativity and productivity
Great point Dwayne!
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Aditya Deshmukh EIT,A.M.ASCE
Staff Geotechnical Professional
Lansdale PA
Original Message:
Sent: 03-26-2019 15:10
From: Dwayne Culp
Subject: Creativity and productivity
I have been working for civil engineering companies for many years. During that time, I worked for a public works agency, a very large engineering company, and some smaller ones, including my own company.
The only company for which we did not have to do daily time sheets was the public works agency. The only job in which I was specifically tasked to not be creative was the public works agency. The private companies rewarded people for being creative. The public job wanted us to follow a very strict set of rules concerning what we could do, and what we could not.
In private practice, occasionally you will get a chance to work on one project for the whole day, week, year. These are great jobs, and allow you to be involved in a lot of different things. Even in those jobs, they want us to bill tasks separately. Billing allows a lot of creativity. It allows you to compare progress in your personal career by setting baselines for your work. It allows you to compare your progress to the progress expected on a specific job. It allows you to show a client how much more or less efficient you are compared to similar companies, it allows you to know whether the budgets you set when you start the project are appropriate, it allows you to decide if you have made profit or suffered a loss. It also allows you to determine if you wish to work for that client ever again.
Billing, and money are not "bad" words that stifle creativity. Billing allows us to provide a service to those that we do business with, and paying us for that service is a small indication from our clients that they respect the work that they have been provided. Starving artists paint what they are told to paint, full artists paint what they want. Being paid to provide excellent service, regardless of whether we are working on projects that provide people homes, ways to travel, places to work in, power for their lifestyles does not stifle creativity. It actually makes it possible to have some. It's not the engineers that believe that they are exchanging their client's money for the engineer's time that excel in this world. These are transactional engineers, and are not much different than the clerk at the grocery store that takes your money for their bosses groceries. It's the engineers that believe that they are exchanging their time for their client's dreams that make a difference. And dreams have room for creativity regardless of whether it is a $3,000 dream or a $3,000,000 dream.
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Dwayne Culp, Ph.D., Ph.D.,M.ASCE
Culp Engineering, LLC
Rosenberg TX
(713)898-1977
Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2019 11:11
From: Aditya Deshmukh
Subject: Creativity and productivity
There is a practice of recording time-sheets, billing time to the client and many more standard systems like these followed in many industries. Do you think practices like these inhibit creativity but boost productivity in the long run?
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Aditya (Ady) Deshmukh E.I.T., A.M.ASCE
Staff Geotechnical Professional
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