RISKY BUSINESS

FROM THE LIFE-DEFINING DECISIONS WE FACED EARLY ON, such as which college to attend, what major to choose, and what career to pursue, to the mundane ones we make every day now, like what street to turn to on our way to work, the element of risk is unavoidable.

One untimely decision, one misstep, or simply a dose of bad luck can change the course of our lives. The world of 2010 haunts us with risk ranging from the economic to the geopolitical.

We fear risk because it is beyond our direct control. In responding to our online question of the month (see page 4 of the print version of this month's magazine), 15 percent of those who answered said people in their employment sector are losing jobs as a result of the poor economy. For those who feel this way, every day presents a dose of risky business. And every day, in our own way, all of us try to reduce the risk. Though we offer no silver bullet for controlling risk, our first issue of the year looks at ways to manage it.

There are everyday lessons to be learned from the systematic approach to risk management that go beyond the billion-dollar projects and product development failures that our authors talk about in this issue. In “Risk-Informed Decision Making,” Bilal Ayyub, Peter Prassinos, and John Etherton remind us that we can have some control over the seemingly uncontrollable if we take a proactive and systematic approach.

The feeling of empowerment over our work environment helps reduce risk, or at least the angst associated with it. The more we can control repercussions, the less we fear uncertainty. This is to a large extent what governs our career choices and job satisfaction.

During the early-career phase of our life, when we faced those life-defining decisions I was talking about before, we looked at the opportunities before us and made choices based on our aptitudes and interests. We minimized the risk of failure by getting involved in something we were good at and that also fulfilled us as human beings.

So then, why is it that there are so many reports of engineers leaving the profession?

It turns out that reports accentuating the doom of engineering, and specifically mechanical engineers, are highly exaggerated.

The article by Lisa Frehill, also in this issue, provides a comprehensive look at the retention levels for different engineering disciplines and also across gender lines. Frehill is executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology—which analyzed a survey on the subject sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers. She is also on the adjunct faculty at New Mexico State University.

For an interesting and optimistic look at engineering job prospects in the power industry, read Jack Thornton’s article, “Positions of Power,” in this month's magazine.

At the end of the day, it turns out that engineers are not much different from anyone else. That is, the engineers who leave their jobs do so with the hope of finding another job that promises greater satisfaction, whether it is within the profession or outside it.

And in truth, don’t we all strive to minimize the risk of failure or unhappiness in our jobs and increase the probability of acclaim, reward, and happiness? Engineers or not, we share a human nature.

—John G. Falcioni, Editor-in-Chief
He can be reached by e-mail at falcionij@asme.org