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tce OPINION

What can you dowhen orders from your

superiors conflict withengineering rationale?Harvey Deardenadvises

And yet

Professional integrity is

what no man can give youand none can take away.Professional integrity is anengineers gift to himself.

IN 1633 Italian astronomer, physicist

and philosopher Galileo was forced to

retract his view that the earth was not

the fixed point at the centre of the universe,

which at the time was contrary to the

teachings of the Roman Catholic church.

The Inquisition (the churchs tribunal

to combat non-believers) found him

vehemently suspect of heresy and he spent

the rest of his life under house arrest. There

is an apocryphal story that after recanting

his theory he muttered the phrase Eppur

si muove (And yet it moves). Its unlikely

that Galileo actually said this, but he surely

must have thought it.

While this might, at first sight, appear as a

quaint historical story, well removed from

our modern sophisticated culture, thereis nothing quaint about it. It was a highly

significant episode in the history of science,

and it is representative of a commonplace

dilemma for professional engineers in the 21st

century the engineering rationale points

one way, the political pressure in another. Be

alert for this dilemma (it may come in many

guises), and be prepared to jealously guard

your engineering integrity.

Note that I do not insist on a refusal to

compromise. There are many circumstances

where compromises are an intelligent

response to competing demands, andexpediency may be a valid consideration.

It may be appropriate to compromise on

the engineering execution in order to meet

the wider project objectives. There is a

legitimate debate to be had whenever the

execution specifics conflict with the broader

project objectives in terms of, for example,

cost, deadlines and contractual obligations.

Compromises on the engineering execution

might well be appropriate. However, the

question will remain as to whether the

proposed compromise is in the best interests

of optimal project delivery or someones

personal agenda, whether declared or not.

getting personalPersonal agendas might be based on avoiding

responsibility; saving face; securing a larger

budget; acquiring more influence; or

inflating importance.

I do not say that all such objectives are

necessarily suspect. Its when they conflict

with good engineering that they become

unworthy. Some engineers, as well as

journalists, will not allow the facts to get in

the way of a good story (personal agenda).

You might be urged to pursue one course

over another, and thats fine as long as there

is an honest debate about the merits of each.

But if youre ever invited to turn a blind eye

or disregard engineering rationale then

you must recognise this as a test of your

professional integrity.

Here I may bend a line concerning

honour from the 1995 film Rob Royto my

purpose: Professional integrity is what noman can give you and none can take away.

Professional integrity is an engineers gift

to himself. It follows then, that an engineer

can only lose his integrity if he chooses to

give it away (or sell it).

challenging the nonsenseAlthough typically there are levels of

seniority and authority within engineering

enterprises, most do not have a military-

style chain of command. Were not required

to execute orders unquestioningly; on the

contrary, there is a professional obligation to

challenge orders if they do not make sense.

(I intend no criticism of the military here; its

approach is necessary to its role.)

If an instruction does not make sense to

you, there are only a few reasons for that:

you have not understood;

your boss has not understood; or

your boss has a personal agenda.

If you havent understood, then you

should seize the continuing professional

development (CPD) opportunity. If

your boss has not understood, then you

should diplomatically highlight the CPD

opportunity to your boss. If you suspect

your boss has a personal agenda, then you

should tread warily and look to defend your

professional integrity.

If the transgression is wilful and

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CAREERS tceOPINION

deliberate, rather than inadvertent or

misguided, then a formal complaint may

be called for; but be sure of wrongful intent.

Ultimately, if serious matters of safety or

corruption are involved, maintening yourintegrity requires that you blow the whistle

long and hard. More typically youll meet

issues of misalignment rather than outright

corruption. Perhaps most insidious is

the unthinking insistence on compliance

with some tradition/standard/guidance,

where there is no consideration of the

context, the underpinning engineering

rationale, or the wider implications.

Compliance is generally held to be a good

thing, but if inappropriate it will distort the

engineering.

stripping out the spinSo what if youre being pressured to

compromise the engineering for no worthy

reason? Its all very well taking a stand,

but the personal consequences might

be profound. Perhaps the best approach

is to not vociferously protest (unless the

transgression is blatant), but rather to

summarise the considerations as a matter

of record without spin, without point

scoring, and without rancour; a simple

summary statement of the engineering

considerations with an acknowledgement

of where judgement is required.

This will highlight any misaligned

behaviour. It will prevent distorted

engineering being deliberately

camouflaged. If others choose to

misrepresent matters, that is their affair; if

this leads to waste or inefficiency, well at

least you did what you could to make the

position clear.

If you find yourself obliged to implement

some distorted instruction or policy, then

feel free to mutter And yet it moves, and

recognise that you take your place in a long

history of denials in the face of evidence.tce

Harvey Dearden (htdearden@tdsl.org.uk)

runs consultancy Time Domain Solutions

get that Galileofeeling?

Ever