Remembering Your Purpose

What do we owe the future??

I love this powerful question at the heart of HDR’s new strategic plan because it invites each of us to reflect on the purpose of what we do every day.?The plan states: “The work we do doesn’t just serve our neighbors today, it serves generations of neighbors—and the outcomes that transpire because of our work are revealed over lifetimes.?Our work greatly influences how people experience the world.?It is essential to how well society functions.”

Last month I visited my second-grade daughter’s classroom for Career Day.?Her school in Pittsburgh is two blocks from the Fern Hollow Bridge, which suddenly collapsed early before school on a frigid day in January, 2022, suddenly making the trip to school more challenging for nearly every teacher and child.?I learned of the event through a mass text sent via the school’s automated notification system.?It read simply: “School canceled today due to bridge collapse.”?A friend compared the event to someone turning on the “bat symbol” for local bridge engineers.?Fortunately, HDR’s amazing local team did have the opportunity to respond to this call, leading design for the replacement bridge that opened just eleven months later.?

I thought about this event as I waited in a line of parents for my turn to talk to the class, making small talk with a dietitian (who wisely brought snacks) and a nurse practitioner.?When it was my turn to present I made it about three slides into showing pictures of bridges and talking about my work as a bridge engineer before it became clear I had to stop.?Nearly three-quarters of the kids were sitting on the carpet with their hands raised, bouncing up and down. This was audience participation way beyond what I was used to. I picked one student in the front, who wanted to tell me about a popsicle bridge she built that looked like the bridge picture behind me.?The next child I called on wanted to list the favorite Pittsburgh bridge of every member of their family.?One boy wanted to know how in the world do they build a bridge in the water!??I had a proud dad moment when my daughter correctly identified the compression and tension members for the Brooklyn Bridge.?Several kids wanted to tell me about Fern Hollow, about changes to their bus route, how the new bridge looks, or to ask me if they can trust bridges --are the bridges they cross safe??

I closed by passing around a piece of the yellow ribbon cut for the grand opening of the new Fern Hollow Bridge that the PM, Jason Fuller , let me borrow.?On the drive home I reflected on the visit and was overwhelmed by purpose: what we get to do is incredible, and so important.?Our work fills kids (and grown-up kids) with wonder, influencing how they experience the world.?Those children and their families can trust that bridges are safe, because of bridge professionals like us. I’m sure you also have had “mountaintop moments” of purpose in your careers which help energize and focus you. These are so important, because we all know there are many, many days when work is just hard: big deadlines, technical challenges, bad news on a project.?It’s easy for these to feel like the main story. Over time, these challenges can run you down. I know that sometimes happens to me.

Regularly refilling your “purpose gas tank” is crucial. Remembering my work’s purpose helps me push through the hard days, find energy I didn’t know I had, and take on new challenges I didn’t think I could because I see why I’m doing it. ?How about you??How can you help make sure you and your team don’t forget your “why”? There are lots of ways to do this: spend a Friday afternoon with your design team visiting one of your local projects when under construction.?Visit a school or scout group to tell them about what you do.?Take a friend or family member to a completed project you worked on and tell them about it.?Hold a lunch in your office to celebrate your projects from the past year. Ask a co-worker about their most rewarding project. Spend a quiet minute reflecting on the same answer for you.?

Bridge Engineers are blessed to create, inspect, maintain, and fix bridges that will serve society long beyond us. The work we do is a valuable gift to the future. How will you let that sink in for you this month?