Interpersonal Skills for Technical Professionals

Whether you are an engineer or a technical manager, the "Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Technical Professionals" will give you the tools you need to evolve.
Be well,




An Important Secret To Keeping Your Job
BY: Steven Cerri

As I said, last week I attended two very interesting and significant events.

In the morning I attended the commemoration of NASA Ames Research Center as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Historical Site, honoring all the great work that has been accomplished at that world-renowned facility. Work in the areas of aeronautics, astronautics, computation, spacecraft and satellites, wind tunnel research, to name just a few of the technologies.

As the chair of the San Francisco Section of the AIAA, I was honored and pleased to have been invited to make a short presentation.

For those of you who don't know much about the NASA Ames Research Center, it has been the pre-eminent NASA research facility on the west coast for many years.

NASA's Ames Research Center has been in existence since the early 1940s and has been involved in wing deicing systems for early aircraft right through to modern-day spacecraft.

Ames was initially know for wind tunnel design and testing, flight testing, and supersonic and hypersonic aerodynamics. The center conducted pioneering research in rotorcraft and vertical flight aircraft. Then expanded into spacecraft engineering, supercomputing and information technology, air traffic control, thermal protection for re-entry vehicles (the Apollo ablative shield was developed there), astrobiology and space life sciences, and Earth and planetary sciences. Ames led the development of simulators for human factors research, and has made major improvements to air traffic management.

Even with this great history, several years ago, there was some question as to whether NASA Ames would remain open or be closed. Budget cuts were placing in question the future of the facility.

It was clear that NASA Ames needed to adapt. To not only bring in more technology but to be more than technology. The world had changed. New relationships had to be developed. New ways of doing business. As I like to say it, "a new way of moving through the world".

With a plan for keeping the best of technology and people, coupled with a plan for changing their relationship with the outside world, several years ago, NASA Ames was told that it would not be closed.

One of it first assignments was to build a new building.

The building plans began to develop along a typical path. The building envisioned was a 20th century building. It was just another building.

Enter new leadership and management in the latter part of 2008 regarding the building. One of the first orders of business was to scrap the "first" new building plan. Management then challenged the team to come up with a building that was a 21st century building, one that was completely sustainable. One that didn't use more energy than it produced. One that used geothermal energy sources; recycled all it's water; and used the environment to cool and heat the building. One that was a net-zero energy building. A building that was the most sustainable government building in the United States.

Apollo 11
When the astronauts of Apollo 11 landed on the moon Neil Armstrong named the landing area Tranquility Base. The new sustainable building has been named "Sustainability Base". The ground breaking event took place last week and when completed, this building will be the most energy efficient and most sustainable government building yet built. It will set the standard.

NASA Ames didn't close; it didn't lose it's job. It kept it's job.
NASA Ames not only didn't have to close, but has become a reinvigorated organization that will set the standards for many sustainability technologies going forward.

A lot like people.
In a very significant way, NASA Ames is a lot like people. NASA Ames is a lot like engineers and technology managers and leaders.

We love our technology. When the world around us changes we think the best thing to do is to be "better" at our technology. But very often, the world wants something different from us. The world wanted something different from NASA Ames. The world didn't want NASA Ames to abandon all of it's technology. The world wanted it to add something it didn't have to the technology it already had.

The same holds true for engineers and technical managers and leaders. Your organizations don't want you to abandon your technology. They want you to add to it. And 99% of the time, what they want you to add is the ability to communicate effectively. They want you to be able to integrate yourself and your ideas into the ideas of the team.

They want you to be able to have a wide variety of conversations with a wide variety of constituents. Your communication skills, your management and leadership skills (which ultimately also boil down to communication) can be the determining factor as to whether you get laid off or keep your job.

Look around
There are many companies laying off their engineers. I know, they may offer early retirement where they can, but do you want to depend on someone taking early retirement in order to keep your job?

Here is how the choice often works out
If a company has a choice between keeping a high priced engineer or even an engineering manager versus keeping a young engineer who is paid 60% of the high-priced engineers' salary, but who can do 80% of high-priced engineers' work, guess what their decision will be?

They will let go of the high-priced engineer or manager and get by with the young, lower-priced engineer who can do 80% of the work. Besides, doing 80% of the work is probably acceptable since the layoffs were caused by a slow-down in work load anyway.

Why keep the higher-priced engineer or engineering manager?
So why would a company want to keep the high-priced engineer or engineering manager.

The only reason to keep the higher-priced engineer or engineering manager over the less expensive engineer, is if the high-priced experience counts for something. Only if the higher salary delivers something unique and necessary.

That something can be either a very unique technical capability or, for most engineers, it is the ability to adapt, to communicate, to integrate others, and to create opportunities and outcomes where the younger engineers' lack of experience cannot. It is the ability to have the conversations that extract the best from people and teams.

With the rapidly changing world of engineering and technology, to rely on your ability to be the best at technology only is a difficult row to hoe. In order to take advantage of your experience it must be your ability to communication and have the important conversations that allows your experience to translate into a more future.

Like NASA Ames you must be able to add something new to your toolbox.

For the engineer or the technical manager or leader, that something new in your toolbox is your communication skills, your facilitation skills, and your leadership skills.

What made the difference?
How do I know this is true for NASA Ames.

Prior to the ground breaking ceremony, a presentation was made to an auditorium filled with people. All the speakers from June Grant, architect at AECOM Design, to Simon P. "Pete" Worder, NASA Ames Center director, to Lt. Governor of California, John Garamendi highlighted the processes, not just the technology.

The technology was a given. The real praise was given to the team work; the coordination; the speed and efficiency; the facilitation of the leadership; the cross-technology communication, that ultimately allowed the technology to be applied. The new relationships that were developed and the new conversations that took place were the difference that made the difference.

How flexible are you in your ability to communicate across disciplines? How effective are you in your ability to move people beyond conflict? How effective are you in your ability to facilitate the integration of diverse ideas into a unified idea that works? Can you be as effective with people as you are with technology?

If your are interested in adding these tools to your toolbox, sign up for my course in Colorado:

"Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Technical Professionals".

Whether you are an engineer or a technical manager, this course will give you the tools you need to evolve.

And congratulations again, to NASA Ames!

Be well,