
Is It Better To Be “Right" Or “Right Now”?

In business, time is money. Wasted time is a LOT of money. When you are completing an assignment, are engineers better off getting their work in on time or getting it right the first time?
Lessons From An Engineering Manager
Bigstock
In my day-to-day efforts, I need to balance my team’s execution versus their effectiveness. I have deadlines promised to the organization, and I strive to exceed these dates. I push my team to improve their performance by executing to their commitments.
Timing is great when everything is perfect. What happens when something is wrong?
Engineers are strangers in the business world. We think differently than others. We train to solve problems scientifically. We are often perfectionist striving to ensure everything is just so. Dates are a suggestion against developing the perfect solutions. We do not compromise.
Perfection is an ultimate goal. If the solution is six months late, what value does it bring for being perfect?
Tinker, Tinker, And Tinker Some More...Bigstock
Many colleagues are tinkerers. They twist, turn, pull, and push to ensure everything is perfect. Precision is our king! They continue to work out minute details to the deepest degree.
Many in business find this behavior annoying. Analysis by paralysis is paralleled. Why can’t these engineers make a decision?
Engineers by nature want to be right and provide perfection. Often, this need leads to their own detriment.
So What Is Right?Bigstock
Business needs to move forward, and deadlines must be kept. Customers expect results on the day published. They want their stuff.
The same stakeholders also want their product to work. Mistakes are unacceptable, and functionality is required.
So how do you choose between right and right now?
Lesser Of The Evils...Bigstock
In many cases, I can negotiate with a customer for more time. I cannot bargain for function. The product must work well to fulfill the customer’s needs. Make it right the first time.
Sacrificing time for function will pay off dividends. The balance of being late can be offset by correcting mistakes later in production, by providing a product that does not meet specification, and by avoiding any sort of rework. Costs of a mistake late in the development cycle of a product can costs 10X, 100X, or even 1000X dollars to correct. The earlier these errors are discovered, alternatively how “right” it is from the beginning, the less expensive to correct.
This opinion does not provide carte blanche to engineers to take all the time in world. Remember, time is money. Being late to be right cannot always happen, and time is a finite resource. Sometimes, you must compromise a little perfection to maintain timelines.
How do you choose?
Giving Up Control Over PerfectionBigstock
Each engineer within his or her career must learn the balance between time and perfection. Sometimes good enough is everything a project needs. Other situations require perfection.
Most people will explain this balance is only learned through experience. Over time, “you will figure it out.”
My best advice to any engineer is to be curious and ask questions. Ask your boss, what is most important to her agenda? What is critical to the customer specification? How do I know what is important to get right versus having it complete right now?
Advice From A Sage...Bigstock
Below, I have included a few “rules of thumb” to begin your journey.
If safety of another human being is a concern, lean towards perfection. Human life is far more important than a penalty for being late. If you feel something needs more effort to keep someone safe, take the extra time and the hit to protect your integrity.
When product functionality is paramount to customer success, take the extra time. Similar to safety, you must choose what is right. Making the product stronger with the additional effort will outweigh the penalties in most cases.
Trivial items are the places to relax on perfection. Is a bolt length 10mm or 12mm long? In many cases, the difference is miniscule. Knowing what is important versus trivial will help engineers maintain their schedules without sacrificing product integrity.
If you need to ask yourself, "Do I need to do more to make this 'right' and will anyone care?" then place the extra effort on this topic. If the decision seems trivial, ask your boss or a senior member of the team their opinion. If you cannot sleep at night knowing something in your work is not measuring up to your personal integrity, add the effort.
Early in your career, your choices are not clear. You will make mistakes. I recommend making them on the side of caution… making it right the first time. You can always ask for forgiveness on delivery; however, apologizing for an error requires much more effort.
I walk a line between both worlds as an engineering executive. I need things done NOW to satisfy my customer, and I need output to be accurate. I cannot always have both. When in doubt, I will defend my engineers who make it “right” versus the one who cut corners to make it on time. Right comes with much less risk to the customer… unless perfection becomes an obsession.
Strive to “make it right” every time, and over time, you will learn to exceed your committed dates.
From Your Site Articles- The Top 5 Interview Questions For Engineers - Work It Daily ›
- 4 Reasons Why Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs - Work It Daily ›
- How Salespeople And Engineers Can Work Together - Work It Daily ›
- Engineering Perfection: Solidarity, Disability, and Well-being by ... ›
- The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering ›
- Engineering For Perfection | Othering & Belonging Institute ›

Being fired, laid off, or let go can be a very emotionally taxing and frustrating experience. Your self-confidence is wavering, you're not sure what you're going to do next, and you're not sure how you're ever going to bounce back (especially if you're late in your career). If you're currently unemployed after a layoff, this live event is for you.
It's completely normal to grieve for the loss of your job when you get laid off. But, as difficult as losing your job may seem right now, it can lead to something positive.
Everything happens for a reason. Getting laid off might give you the fresh start you didn't know you needed.
In this training, you’ll learn how to:
- Get back on your feet after a tough layoff
- Create an effective job search strategy that gets you results fast
- Stand out as a unique candidate and sell yourself to future employers
Join our CEO, J.T. O'Donnell, and Director of Training Development & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for this live event on Wednesday, September 21st at 12 pm ET.
CAN'T ATTEND LIVE? That's okay. You'll have access to the recording and the workbook after the session!

Many candidates who come to us for resume help have the same question. They have years of professional work experience, but a lot of it isn't relevant to the position they're currently seeking.
On the one hand, they don't want to waste resume space detailing work that doesn't relate to their application. On the other hand, they don't want to omit years of work that developed them as a professional.
How do you mention unrelated work experience on your resume?
The Right PhraseBigstock
We use a magic phrase to address this issue: "additional experience." It's perfectly fine to sum up large portions of your career in one section that lists previous employers, positions, leadership roles, certifications, associations, publications, awards, volunteer experience, and even significant hobbies (as long as the experience supports your professionalization in some way).
If you spent the first 10 years of your marketing career performing lower-level tasks, in your "Additional Experience" section at the end of your resume you could say: "Marketing positions with ABC, DEF, and XYZ (1990-2000)."
If your previous work was in an unrelated field, you can simply list the companies: "Positions with ABC, DEF, and XYZ."
Whatever additional experience you decide to include on your resume, make sure you demonstrate why it's important to the job you're applying for by quantifying the work experience and your accomplishments.
The Age GameBigstock
This technique can also be very helpful for those who are concerned about age discrimination. We summarized the first 15 years of one candidate's career into one sentence to downplay the fact that she was 55. Because her experience was relevant to her field, removing it from her resume entirely would have been a disservice, but we did not include the years that experience encompassed in her "Additional Experience" section.
The Experience IssueBigstock
We recently worked with another candidate who needed to show that she was a more experienced professional than her education suggested. This woman had worked for 10 years before going back to complete her bachelor's degree. From looking at her graduation dates, you would assume she was in her 20s. In fact, she was an experienced manager in her 30s—a fact that was important to show for the level of job she was seeking.
By adding an "Additional Experience" section and putting her "Work History" section before her "Education" section, she was able to show employers that her graduation dates were not an indication of how much experience she had. Just because her work experience occurred before graduating doesn't mean it was unrelated work experience. The right resume format will make it much easier to mention any kind of significant work experience you've had in your career.
Many of us have work experience that doesn't fit neatly with our current goals and objectives. If you don't feel comfortable leaving it off your resume altogether, using an "Additional Experience" section can help you mention the experience quickly without wasting precious resume space.
Need more help with your job search?
We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Power Hour Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Read moreShow lesshow to mention unrelated work experience on your resume {"customDimensions": {"1":"Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, Jenna Arcand","3":"career, career advice, career tips, how to mention unrelated work experience on your resume, irrelevant work experience, job search, job search advice, job search help, job search tips, job seekers, professionals, resume, resume advice, resume formatting, resume help, resume tips, resume writing, unrelated work experience, work experience, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:26921650, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:26921665, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:26921680, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:26921701","2":"popular","4":"09/16/2022"}, "post": {"split_testing": {}, "providerId": 14, "sections": [0, 370480899, 376490053, 404327439, 543270555, 479660731, 473333499], "buckets": [], "authors": [19549361, 19836096]} } Popular 5 Steps To Ace A Panel Interview Laura Smith-ProulxJenna ArcandSeptember 15, 2022Had a call for a group or panel interview recently? While you might be thrilled to make it to this stage of the hiring process, the mere thought of fielding not one but a whole team of interviewers can be enough to put your stomach in knots.
However, the reason most employers conduct panel interviews isn't to intimidate you; rather, it's a time-saving way to meet with people that will likely interact with you in the new job, and gather their impressions all at once. So, when you stride into a panel or group interview, remember that the team is there to learn about you and your value-add, NOT to interrogate you or make you uncomfortable.
These five tips can help you feel more in control of the process while facing a group of interviewers in a panel interview—with a professional, enthusiastic demeanor that helps win the job.
1. Direct Your Attention To Each Person On The PanelUpon starting the interview, get each person's name (ask for their business card or jot down the name), and then look at each person as you introduce yourself. This will help to break the ice and establish a connection with all of your interviewers.
While fielding questions, avoid staring at a single person (nothing makes you look more "frozen" than doing this!). Instead, make it a point to relax, smile, and open your gaze to the others in the room. Even if a single member of the group asks you a particular question, look around at the others while you answer it. Doing so will help you project a confident image and build rapport with the entire panel.
2. Expect To Repeat YourselfBigstock
While one of your interviewers might take your answer the first time, you can almost expect someone else to either ask for clarification—or ask it again, later in the interview. Why? Because just like our verbal abilities many of us have different listening styles.
What is clear to one panel participant may need further explanation for another person. In addition, each panelist comes to the interview with a different agenda. You can expect a prospective peer to be interested in your technical or analytical skills, for example, while the boss might be more curious about why your last job was so short in length.
You may also find yourself repeating information from earlier interviews. This is perfectly normal in the context of a multi-interview hiring process, so avoid coming across as impatient or noting that you've answered this query before.
3. Find Out Who You'll Need To Impress The MostBigstock
Within most panel interviews, it becomes obvious very quickly who is on "your side" and who still hasn't made up his or her mind. While it may be comforting to direct your answers and gaze toward the interviewer who seems more open to your responses, you're better off tackling the naysayer first. Why? Because winning over the person most likely to reject you shows you have the ability to read the audience, as well as problem-solve on your feet.
Most employers are looking for leaders who will challenge issues head-on, ask numerous questions, and hone in on the thorniest problems first. If you respond well to someone who throws challenges your way, you'll come across as an unflappable professional ready to take on the demands of the job.
In addition, most panel interviewers convene after the interview to discuss the candidate and their impressions. If you've won over the toughest member of the group, the others may throw their support behind him or her as well.
4. Be Prepared For At Least One Zinger QuestionBigstock
Interviewers, like anyone else, tend to feel more comfortable (and perhaps bold) in a group. Therefore, you can almost count on being asked a question that might not be posed to you in a one-on-one situation. Of course, you'll want to prepare for your interview by pulling out three to five "power stories" that demonstrate your abilities to perform the job.
Arming yourself with these anecdotes will give you the ability to answer numerous behavioral interview questions common in both single and multi-interviewer situations. But if there's any question or situation you would feel awkward explaining, prepare and practice a set of answers to it prior to your panel interview. This way, you won't feel a sense of dread when the question finally comes up, and you'll be better able to handle any curveballs thrown your way.
5. Thank All Participants PromptlyBigstock
At the conclusion of your panel interview, thank everyone personally, and gather business cards if you didn't already do so. Then, as you're sitting in your car post-interview, write down specific highlights from the interview to include in your thank-you notes, which should be sent within 24 hours after completing the panel interview.
You'll gain the advantage of having the interview fresh in your mind, and will score points for your promptness and attention to professional courtesy.
In summary, a panel interview is nothing to dread, especially since it offers an opportunity to establish rapport with your potential new co-workers and bosses. Arm yourself with a stack of success stories, answers to tough questions, thank-you notes, and a smile, and you'll be on your way to a job offer.
Need more help with your job search?
We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Power Hour Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!
This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Read moreShow lesshow to ace a panel interview {"customDimensions": {"1":"Laura Smith-Proulx, Jenna Arcand","3":"panel interview, interviewing, interview process, group interview, panel of interviewers, job interview, panelists, how to prepare for a panel interview, panel interview tips, how to ace a panel interview, ~popular_source-pageview, how to ace panel job interview, how to ace panel interview, how to ace a panel job interview, panel job interview, interview tips, panel job interview tips, panel interview advice, panel job interview advice, hiring manager, interviewers, job search, job search tips, job search advice, job interview tips, interview advice, job interview advice, preparing for a panel interview, job seekers, hiring process, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718114, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718657, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718109, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718274, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718278, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:22133697, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:31718267","2":"popular","4":"09/15/2022"}, "post": {"split_testing": {}, "providerId": 14, "sections": [0, 370480899, 376489574, 404327439, 543270555, 479660731, 473333499], "buckets": [], "authors": [19549367, 19836096]} } FeaturedAP by OMG
Asian-Promotions.com |
Buy More, Pay Less | Anywhere in Asia
Shop Smarter on AP Today | FREE Product Samples, Latest
Discounts, Deals, Coupon Codes & Promotions | Direct Brand Updates every
second | Every Shopper’s Dream!
Asian-Promotions.com or AP lets you buy more and pay less anywhere in Asia. Shop Smarter on AP Today. Sign-up for FREE Product Samples, Latest Discounts, Deals, Coupon Codes & Promotions. With Direct Brand Updates every second, AP is Every Shopper’s Dream come true! Stretch your dollar now with AP. Start saving today!
Originally posted on: https://www.workitdaily.com/engineering-perfection