What does it take to be a successful engineer?

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What does it take to be a successful engineer?

• Creativity
• Motivation/curiosity/attitude
• Persistence/effort
• Knowledge
• Teamwork/communication
• Other (e.g., snacks)

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Questions

• Are you creative?
• (1 not very, 5 very)
• How do you know?
• Give an example of creativity.

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Reporting out

• What was your strategy?
• How many ideas did you have?
• Were your ideas very creative?
• What were your greatest barriers?
• Time pressure?
• Sharing them in public?
• Social appropriateness
• Uncertainty about directions?
• Blank-Page effect?
• Lack of concentration

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(No Transcript)
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Questions

• How many ideas did you have?
• What was your strategy?
• Were your ideas very creative?
• Why isnt your list longer?
• What were your greatest barriers?
• Time pressure?
• Sharing them in public?
• Social appropriateness
• Uncertainty about directions?
• Blank-Page effect?
• Lack of concentration?
• Did you think of things that others thought of,
  but fail to write them down?

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Your Creative Style

• An Un-scientific (but Fast) Self-Assessment

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Personal Style Part 1

• Please answer the following 10 questions about
  your working habits

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• When I am working on a task, I tend to
• A) Go along with a consistent level of work
• R) Work with high energy at times and low energy
  other times
• If there is a problem, I usually am the one who
  thinks of
• R) Many solutions, some of which are unusual
• A) One or two solutions that that other people
  will generally accept

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• When Keeping records, I tend to
• A) Be very careful about documentation
• R) Be more haphazard about documentation
• In meetings, I am often seen as the one who
• A) Keeps the group functioning well and
  maintains order
• R) Challenges ideas or authority

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• My thinking style could most accurately be
  described as
• A) Linear thinker, going from A to B to C
• R) Thinking like a grasshopper, jumping from one
  idea to another
• If I have to run a project or group, I
• R) Have the general idea and let people figure
  out how to do the tasks
• A) Try to figure out goals, time lines, and
  expected outcomes

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• If there are rules to follow, I tend to
• A) Generally follow them
• R) Question whether those rules are meaningful
  or not
• I like to be around people who are
• A) Smart, stable and solid
• R) Clever, stimulating, and change frequently

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• In my office or home, things are
• R) Here and there in various piles
• A) Laid out neatly or at least in a reasonable
  order
• I usually feel the way people have done things
  in the past
• A) Must have some merit and comes from
  accumulated wisdom
• R) Can always be improved upon

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Scoring I

• Count the number of As and Rs
• If R is higher, you are Type R
• If A is higher, you are Type A
• Write this down
• Subtract R from A
• Write down the absolute value

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Style Assessment

• Type R with dif. 8-10 Strong R
• Type R with dif. 5-7 Mid-Level R
• Type R with dif. 2-4 Moderate R
• Difference of 1 or less MID R/A
• Type A with dif. 2-4 Moderate A
• Type A with dif. 5-7 Mid-Level A
• Type A with dif. 8-10 Strong A

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Please Form Groups

• Strong R
• Mid-Level R
• Moderate R
• MID R/A
• Moderate A
• Mid-Level A
• Strong A

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Form Groups as Follows

• Group A-R Type R with dif. 6-10
• Group B-R Type R with dif. 3-5
• Group B Difference of 2 or less
• Group D-A Type A with dif. 3-5
• Group E-A Type A with dif. 6-10

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Form Groups as Follows

• Group R Type R with dif. 4-10
• Group M Difference of 3 or less
• Group A Type A with dif. 4-10

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Exercise

• In the next 6 minutes, develop a product or
  process that would make some major improvement in
  the world, or for some company. This may be
  your firm or it may be a fictitious organization
• Name your Innovation
• This is all the instructions you will receive on
  this assignment.

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Personal Style Part 2

• Please take one of these HyperTiles
• for making a list

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Personal Style Part 2

• Please take out a piece of lined paper
• to make a list

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EXERCISE

• Spend ten (10) minutes making a list

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EXERCISE

• Spend ten (10) minutes making a list as long as
  you can of uses for yellow wooden pencils.

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Minutes Remaining
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Lets Share Them
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Styles Unveiled

• Radical Innovators
• less disciplined
• manipulate problems
• work in short bursts
• take control
• challenge rules
• seek radical change

• Adaptive Innovators
• prefer precision
• resolve problems
• work steadily
• act as authority
• work within rules
• seek implementation.

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What are the implications of these differences?

• Differences in
• Process
• Communication Style
• Creative Approach
• Level of Innovation
• Solution Practicality

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Paper Clip Innovation
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Paper Clip Type RI
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Gem Clip Machine ca. 1899
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Paper Clip Type AI
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Adaptive Innovations
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How would you assess

• Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Edison
• Ben Franklin

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return
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Exercise

• Think of as many possible uses for a paper clip
  as you can in the next seven (7) minutes