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Why engineers make great CEOs

thehindu.com

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Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#41

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

dworin wrote: post #36

I've found that many organizations tend to have a 'dominant function', and CEOs tend to come from that function. So if engineering calls the shots in your company, or is the main driver of success, the CEO tends to come from engineering. If the company is driven by sales, the CEO tends to come from sales. That's why you see so many oil company CEOs who are geologists or engineers, tech company CEOs who are developers…

There are national trends too - the UK will draw from finance more than many countries, Germany from Engineering. If I had to guess I'd imagine that the US was more likely than many countries to have CEOs with a marketing or product background.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#42

Post by thomaslangston »

programminggeek wrote: post #29

A lot of engineers would make terrible CEOs because they don't understand the basic tenants of business. Most software engineers don't like charging appropriately or spending appropriately on things that make the company money. There is a huge aversion to sales, marketing, and advertising. If the CEO doesn't make sure the company makes money, the company will fail. I see this a lot in smaller companies. Larger compan…

Ultimately a business is about whatever the owner says it is about. Money is the lifeblood, but not always the purpose of the a company.

Great COOs and CFOs make sure that lifeblood is vibrant, while CEOs can focus on executing on the company's designated purpose.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#43

Post by ForHackernews »

joncrocks wrote: post #27
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #23

"They’re detail-oriented, analytical and trained in systematic problem-solving. Engineers’ basic qualities make them good candidates for the top." There's a significant element missing in this line of thought and it involves emotions/people. By this reasoning, a robot might also make a damn good CEO.

Robot CEOs! What a good idea!

But then who would we give exorbitant compensation to?

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#44

Post by viscanti »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #23

"They’re detail-oriented, analytical and trained in systematic problem-solving. Engineers’ basic qualities make them good candidates for the top." There's a significant element missing in this line of thought and it involves emotions/people. By this reasoning, a robot might also make a damn good CEO.

While being detail-oriented, analytical and trained in systematic problem solving might help in some cases, the bigger benefit is the training/experience in changing levels of abstraction. At the CEO level, you need to be able to quickly and easily change the level of abstraction that you're thinking about. Sometimes you need to be able to think about long-term industry trends, and other times you need to be able to zoom down to a very specific issue and you need to be comfortable with the nuance that issue involves.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#46

Post by zenbowman »

bottled_poe wrote: post #17
derekjobst wrote: post #4

Perhaps this is not indicative of a rise of engineers who become interested in management, but individuals already interested in management (or are of that mindset) choosing to get a degree in engineering instead of Business. Given the tremendous value of an engineering degree, especially as a guaranteed high level of income, it makes sense practically minded managers would prefer such a safety net.

So, an engineer can perform managerial work with limited formal training... You seem to be implying that a business degree has little value.

It's not that it has little value, just that it is extremely easy for someone with an engineering mindset.

I took a single class at the USC Law School on Constitutional Law. It was considered a brutal general education class, but myself and some fellow engineers in the class found it absolutely trivial. Turns out case law has many similarities to formal logic.

An engineering education gives you a huge toolset with which to model and solve different kinds of problems, a toolset that non-engineers simply do not possess.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#47

Post by AndrewKemendo »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #41
dworin wrote: post #36

I've found that many organizations tend to have a 'dominant function', and CEOs tend to come from that function. So if engineering calls the shots in your company, or is the main driver of success, the CEO tends to come from engineering. If the company is driven by sales, the CEO tends to come from sales. That's why you see so many oil company CEOs who are geologists or engineers, tech company CEOs who are developers…

There are national trends too - the UK will draw from finance more than many countries, Germany from Engineering. If I had to guess I'd imagine that the US was more likely than many countries to have CEOs with a marketing or product background.

US seems to draw heavily from the "Law" function, with equal parts MBA.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#48

Post by _mulder_ »

dworin wrote: post #36

I've found that many organizations tend to have a 'dominant function', and CEOs tend to come from that function. So if engineering calls the shots in your company, or is the main driver of success, the CEO tends to come from engineering. If the company is driven by sales, the CEO tends to come from sales. That's why you see so many oil company CEOs who are geologists or engineers, tech company CEOs who are developers…

Which explains why there are more Engineers in the 'top 50 Companies'; because most of the biggest, and most valuable companies, are Engineering based in some way, either by manufacturing a product (Cars, Planes, Computers), applying Engineering (Mining, Metal, Oil) or reliant on technology to perform their business (Telecoms, Internet).

The big exceptions would be Finance, Logistics, Business Consultancy or Conglomerates.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#49

Post by jib »

bahahahap wrote: post #31
sergiosgc wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an engineer with an MBA, I can tell you that an engineer breezes through the hard sciences part of management. It's all about modelling, and that's the core training of an engineer. The social sciences aspect of management is not so easy, but if there is underlying aptitude/informal training present, the jump from engineering to management is not that hard.

"...not that hard." For a business major to do the vice versa would be virtually impossible (programmer is possible, but not 'engineer' in the traditional sense).

I dont think that is true at all.

I am pretty sure I could teach just about anyone who is motivated and interested enough math/chemistry/physics/computer science to get through any given engineering degree in those areas.

I think the amount of business people who are motivated to and interested in learning the engineering skills is way lower than the amount of engineering people who are motivated to and interested in learning business skills, but that isnt about ability, that is about motivation and interest.

Engineering interest maps much more directly to engineering education than business interest maps to business education.

Re: Why engineers make great CEOs

#50

Post by jasonwocky »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #45

Friendly reminder that Herbert Hoover was an engineer.

I can't tell...is this supposed to trigger some sort of a contradictory-to-the-article emotional response? Look, I don't doubt that there are many terrible engineer-CEOs, but I wouldn't use Hoover as an example.

First of all, CEO != POTUS.

Secondly, in the words of Harry Truman, "don't you ever cast any aspersions on Mr. Hoover because he's done some very important things for this country and the world."

e.g.:

Early in 1946, when large parts of both Europe and Asia were threatened with famine, Truman made Hoover honorary chairman of a Famine Emergency Committee, and in that capacity Hoover traveled 35,000 miles to twenty-two countries threatened with famine. As a result of his recommendations, the United States in five months shipped more than 6,000,000 tons of bread grains to the people of hungry nations.

- Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman

Not to mention a lot of successful food relief efforts he drove during and after the First World War. How do you think the guy got elected President in the first place?

Hoover did have leadership skills, it seems in particular the problem-solving kinds that a successful engineer-CEO might bring to the table. His political policies and the times he lived in just didn't intersect well.

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