15th Sep - Engineer's Day

15th September is celebrated every year in India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania as the #Engineers_Day. This is the birth-date of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya who is regarded as one of the foremost civil engineers of India. He was both knighted by the British and also was given the Bharat Ratna.

I am an engineer too, but never ever did a job related to engineering. Many of my classmates/batchmates had chosen to pursue a career in engineering and they have all excelled in their respective fields of work. But, there are many engineers(like me) who end up excelling in alternative/diverse careers. When I think about it, some may say "what use was engineering studies to you, when all you are now, is a sales-person?"

I have run out of options trying to explain such people that sooner or later, at some stage in your life, everyone ends up in a position where they are selling something. Be it a new product concept, or a new management way of looking at things, or a new strategy and many such other things. Anyways, back to topic, since my post ain't about sales but about engineering.

Whatever I maybe doing today, I cannot ignore the immense learnings (non-curricular as well) that I got during the four years of engineering which have also shaped me into the person I am. Jotting down some of them below which have been sparked in me primarily during my engineering studies.

#Curiosity - Questioning the norm. This facet has helped me improve many a process, dashboard thereby making the same more user-friendly. While I have been curious chap since my early childhood, the four years of engineering build my curiosity to a different level. On a lighter note, once I ended up being curious if I had even made the right choice by getting into engineering ???????????????? Only time will tell…

#Solution_Mindset - Engineering studies somehow ingrains in you the mindset to look for and build long term solutions. I am reminded of a scene from the 2021 movie Meenakshi Sundareshwar where the hero tries to pitch to the heroine as to how he is an apt prospective groom for her since he is an engineer. He then weaves multiple scenarios trying to prove his point. Funny, witty but mostly true. What engineering gave me was the mindset to look for solutions rather than only crib about problems. And that has helped me grow as a leader. And this is a facet that anyone vying for the spots on the top shall require irrespective of which function they happen to be from. Very clearly, you are paid to bring solutions and not harp about problems.

#Adaptability - Darwin said long ago that survival of the fittest shall be all-prevalent. And that was a clear hint at building adaptability. I am engineer armed with a MBA in finance and have been a sales guy throughout my professional life of over two decades. This itself became a point for interviewers to ponder upon. Further, during this twenty-year journey, thanks to some awesome managers who took some bets on me, I was fortunate to have experienced varying roles across various facets of sales and distribution. When I look back, I feel that I was able to adapt quickly to changing roles and was able to pick up the ropes pretty quickly. Again, thanks to engineering, or, should I say, thanks to days spent at an engineering hostel where you were forced to adapt to what was available rather than keep dreaming about home. ?

Doctors prefix a Dr to their names, CAs prefix a CA to their names but we engineers do not need a prefix. Since we were made for a multitude of things and we tend to excel almost everywhere.

#EngineersDay

PC : Image credits to the respective creators. Except for the one that has me at the footsteps of my engineering college entrance way back in 2002.