Failure: When Engineers Make Mistakes  

About the Presentation:

I used to believe that good engineers never made mistakes. Now I know that great engineers have just learned enough from their mistakes to never make them again! The truth is that every single one of us has made mistakes at some point (or many points) in our career. When we are new engineers, our mistakes are most often a result of our inexperience and can be valuable tools to help us grow. As we mature, mistakes most often come from our lack of preparation to changing or unexpected circumstances and can impact many others around us besides ourselves.

Big projects require taking risks — innovation, tight deadlines, complex coordination, and high expectations all introduce uncertainty. Effective engineers don’t avoid risk; they identify it early, assess its impact, communicate it clearly, and build systems that allow teams to respond quickly when plans change.

This session will look at two things. First, we will discuss how we as ASCE Members can be prepared for those times when we are going to make mistakes. Whether you are an entry level engineer, new PE, or a manager in your firm, learning to never make the same mistake twice is an important tool to help us on our path to success. And being able to respond to them in a better way is the key to minimizing the long-term effects of them. Second, we will discuss some of the ways the environment of our teams can be better suited to making and recovering from mistakes. We will look at ways we can actively structure our teams to make fewer mistakes and recover better when they do happen, including how we create a culture that openly discusses risk, anticipates potential failure points, and manages uncertainty before it becomes a crisis.

About the Speaker:

With a career spanning more than twenty-five years, Mike draws from his experience in civil and structural engineering to provide candid insights into the ever-evolving industry. His passions for collaboration and education brings a fresh perspective on how to successfully take a project from development to delivery.

In 2018, Mike founded Arrow Structural Engineering (Morgantown, WV) with a clear objective of bringing practical experience and innovation to his clients. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and Structural Engineer (SE) with a Master’s in Business Administration and a BS in Civil Engineering. He is currently completing a doctorate in Engineering at West Virginia University.