Book Review: The Unwritten Laws of Engineering

I come from a family of mechanical engineers, and many of my friends at college studied mechanical engineering. When I entered the workforce and asked for advice, it should come as no surprise that it was based on that background. One recommendation that came up again and again was a book: The Unwritten Laws of Engineering.

Rather than focus on the well known laws of physics, the book is a guide to professional conduct. As expected from engineers, it’s a well designed machine with specific goals and no filler. Part one is targeted towards newcomers, focusing on their role in an organization and how to engage co-workers. Part two is for managers, establishing the art of delegation and the consequences of a two-way street between superiors and subordinates. Part three extends the lessons of part one with universal guidelines of behavior and responsibility.

With time and practice, I’ve gathered some interesting takeaways when applying the laws to my own work. A career in IT presents many engineering challenges, but there’s a fundamental difference that struck me when learning more about other disciplines. A keystone of those is a code of ethics; review the ASME, ASCE, and IEEE codes and notice that the first item for all three organizations is holding the safety of the public above all else. This doesn’t match up with the common trope of IT leadership, who focus on “enabling the business” foremost. I can’t proclaim that this is the wrong approach, or that public safety should take the top spot. I do know, however, that you don’t need to be licensed to write software or commit to a common code of ethics for a career in IT. The maturation of this industry moves towards larger impacts to public safety with the development of IoT, social networks, and autonomous decision making in vehicles. Perhaps responsibility will scale with that power, but perhaps not.