The Entrepreneurial Engineer:

Personal, Interpersonal, and Organizational Skills

for Engineers in a World of Opportunity

Module 1: Engineering for the 21st Century

David E. Goldberg
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, Illinois 61801
deg@uiuc.edu

Welcome to TEE
TEE = The
Entrepreneurial
Engineer
TEE is
A set of lectures
A book
A blog:

www.entrepreneurialengineer.
blogspot.com

An attitude about the

world we live in

Fast-paced world is
changing what
engineers think and do.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

My Background
BSE & MSE in early 70s at Michigan.
Worked in small startup in 1976.
Returned to school for PhD.
Sidetracked by research/teaching
career at Alabama and Illinois.
Better known work on genetic
algorithms and computational
innovation.
Currently Jerry S. Dobrovolny
Distinguished Professor in
Entrepreneurial Engineering.
Chief Scientist for Nextumi,
www.nextumi.com.
Broadly interested in history,
philosophy, business & economics.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

The Times They Are a Changin

Engineering
students used to

Engineering
students today

Work as
engineers.

Work as engineers
& non-engineers.

Work for one

large employer
for life.

Work for a number

of firms of different
sizes and maturity.

Work and be
judged as
individuals.

Work & be
evaluated on
interdisciplinary
teams.

Be concerned
largely with tech
feasibility.

Be concerned with
market-tech-societal
feasibility.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

Bob Dylan, b. 1941

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

This Module
Examine forces shaping a new entrepreneurial
engineer.
Beyond tech: Order 1, 2, & n skills.
10 competencies for the entrepreneurial
engineer.
4 methods: common sense, humanities, social
science, engineering.
3 principles: Engagement, create-then-criticize,
other eyes.
3 cautions: ideals beware, obvious isnt easy,
practice makes perfect.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

Cold War vs. 21st Century

In the Cold War:
Large, centralized organizations.
Many specialties under one roof.
Engineering work specialized & mainly technical.

Today
Spread of information technology.
Reduction in transaction costs.
Results in smaller world with smaller, more agile
organizations.
Needs broadly capable engineers oriented toward
opportunity.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

Entrepreneurial Engineer?
Broad usage of the term
entrepreneurial.
Not referring to a type of company.
Entrepreneurial engineers can work for
Small startups (startup entrepreneur).
Large extant organizations (intrapreneur).

Entrepreneurial is a state of mind:

Orientation toward opportunity.
Intellectual, financial, organizational
arbitrage.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

Order 1, 2, & n Skills

Engineering education concentrates on
building technical competence.
Need many non-technical skills to be
broadly competent:
Order 1: Personal skills.
Order 2: Interpersonal skills, between you
and another.
Order n: Organizational skills, between you
and the many.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

Ten Competencies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The joy of engineering

Money & you: engagement
Time management
Write for your life
Present, dont speak
The human side of engineering
Ethics in matters small, large, and
engineering
8. Master the pervasive team
9. Organizations and leadership
10. Technology opportunity assessment
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

Joy of Engineering
Engineering is a great education: Liberal
arts education for 21st century.
Engineering is a great profession: Action
oriented, but based on thought, involves
and affects people.
Some Tensions:
Tug of science
Tug of business

Golden mean the key.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

10

Money, Work & You

Engineers often
interested in money.
Who gets rich and why?
Interestingly engagement
is path to wealth.
Do what you love and the
money may follow.
What are your values, life
mission, and objectives?
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

11

Mastering Time and Space

Mastering values, mission,
and objectives is strategic
personal plan.
Tactically, must master time
and space.
The challenge of time:
Easy to waste.
Non-renewable resource.

Tools: calendar, to-do list,

and systematic filing system.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

12

Write for Your Life

Many engineers dont like to write, but
most engineers write a lot:
E-mails, memos, reports.
Specs, proposals, contracts.

Need good process and content:

Write first, then revise: Freewriting exercise.
B-P-R: background, purpose, roadmap.
Lists & amplification.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

13

Present, Dont Speak

No speeches need apply.
Presentations (*.ppt):
Talks supported by ppt slides or
transparencies.
Organization: B-P-R again.
Lists and more lists.
Transparency speak.
Miller rule: 7 2 elements.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

14

Human Side of Engineering

Engineers build models of things.
Engineers can build model of people, too.
Key model:
See matters through the eyes of others.
Disagreements as differences in perception.
Role of questions.
We are all salesmen.
Praise, criticism, and passion.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

15

Ethics in Matters
Small, Large & Engineering
Odd that students find ethics
boring:
Corporate shenanigans are up.
Copying of Intellectual property
rampant.
Cheating is up.

Golden rules: positive & negative.

Whence right & wrong: 5 theories.
Moral theory to practice: authority,
conformity & practice.
Engineering ethics: codes &
conflicts.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

16

The Pervasive Team

Engineers work as part of teams.
But teamwork is hard:
Communication grows as square of team size.
Balancing decision making and doing is hard.
Cooperation thwarted by prisoners dilemma.

Ground rules for shared expectations.

Reorganize for effective meeting dynamics.
Groups vs. teams: Accountable for important
mission.
Brainstorming & creativity: How do we concoct
solutions as individuals and in groups.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

17

Organizations & Leadership

Why do we join organizations?
Economic answer: Transaction costs.
Psychological answer: Accumulated status.
Reduced transaction costs, change jobs more often:
free agency.

Motivation, Maslow, & Theory X & Y.

Recognizing great companies: From Good to
Great.
Recognizing cultures: Gods of Management.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

18

Assessing Tech Opportunities

What is opportunity? Realizable difference
between what should be and what is.
Sustainable competitive advantage.
What is your niche?
3 Financial mysteries: fear of financials,
breaking even, time value of money.
Opportunity assessment as mini-B-plan
exec summary, tech description, market,
prelim financials, action plan.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

19

Four Methods
Common sense & critical
reasoning.
Humanities: historical &
philosophical modes of
thought.
Social science: economics &
psychology.
Engineering: Little
quantitative models +
empirical observation +
inventiveness.
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

20

Three Principles
1. Engagement.
2. Create first; criticize later.
3. Analyze and design behavior
through the eyes of others.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

21

Engagement
Doing for intrinsic rewards of the activity:
Time flies when youre having fun.
Would do without getting paid.

2 ways:
Engage in activities you like.
Find engagement in all activities.

Complexity of the activity fascinates:

Multiple facets and levels.
Mastery tests breadth of capability.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

22

Create First, Criticize Later

Criticism easily becomes default mode of
thought.
Stifles creativity by preventing many
ideas:
Fluency: many ideas.
Flexibility: diverse ideas.

Let ideas out; then, criticize to refine and

make practical.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

23

Eyes of Others
Golden rules ask us to see things through
eyes of others and act accordingly.
We act easily in our own interests.
To understand interests of others, put
yourself in their shoes.
Easy to say, hard to do.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

24

Three Cautions
1. Be realistic in application of ideals.
2. Mastering the obvious isnt easy.
3. Engage the material and put it to
practice.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

25

Cautious in Using Ideals

Ideals provide way to model better future
state, personally or organizationally.
But most individuals and organizations
are far from ideal.
Rookies will see difference between
reality and ideal and become
discouraged.
Dont play aint it awful.
Use ideals as guides, not despair.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

26

Mastering Obvious Isnt Easy

Personal, interpersonal, and
organizational skills seem obvious to
some.
Mastering obvious isnt easy.
Mastery of high-level facet mistaken for
detail: golf as an example.
Always something to learn about complex
task.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

27

Need for Practice

Old joke about Carnegie Hall.
Practice, practice, & practice.
Material in this course must be
Engaged &
Put into practice.

Lets get to it.

The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

28

Summary
Fast-paced world of change creates
opportunities.
Entrepreneurial as a state of mind.
10 competencies for the entrepreneurial
engineer.
3 principles.
4 methods.
3 cautions.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer

2006 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.

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