Do Engineers Fear Innovation?



The use of data management in engineering and design is another area where fear impedes progress. It feels easier to stay with existing processes and tools than to switch to a system that might have a high learning curve. I say “might” intentionally; it is often an irrational fear that assumes the changes will be difficult and the learning period long.

The problem comes with a misconception about the very nature of innovation. It is easy to think of innovation as a revolutionary step, radical and discontinuous. But revolution is not the only form of innovation. Evolution can also be the process of innovation; continuous and incremental steps toward a goal.

The day-to-day work of engineering is supported by documents and processes. If you spend 30 minutes tracking down a document that wasn’t put in the correct Windows folder, that is inefficient. If you type a search phrase and find the document in five seconds that is innovation. But you are still working with the same documents to achieve the same processes. The improvement in workflow is an evolutionary improvement not a revolutionary reinvention of your day.

The introduction of new data management processes reduce waste and increase operational efficiencies, but there is no reason they have to make the user feel like they are undergoing a revolution. Modern PDM software like Synergis Adept can automate tasks and processes, efficiently manage content, improve collaboration and productivity, and reduce time to market. But they do in in an evolutionary fashion, providing a huge productivity boost without a mind-numbing revolutionary transition.

In the big picture, engineering companies must embrace both revolutionary and evolutionary innovation. There is a time to tweak an existing product or remodel an existing building, and there is a time to start from scratch and design based on the very latest ideas, materials, and processes. Internal innovation is the same way, and usually the evolutionary path makes any future revolutionary innovation easier to embrace.

Synergis Software Solutions Architect Russell Reese recently explained in a webinar how evolutionary innovation is a key aspect of the Adept approach to data management. Watch “The Four Pillars of Data Management.”


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