Are Engineers Adults?

I once heard a project manager jokingly refer to the engineers as needing "an adult" in the room to keep them on task and working responsibly. There is a big difference between the mindsets of engineers and project managers, and the stereotypes can be comical to those acquainted with them.

A highly skilled and experienced engineer is a working machine, a problem solver poised to explode into the chaos. He is bored with the finer machinations of the business, the when's and why's of the next task. He just wants to bury himself in the matrix with a problem to solve, a conundrum to vanquish, and when he's done, he exults in the glory of the kill and dances on his desk with fist pumps and shouting something about "the finest muffins and bagels in the land."

The project manager, by contrast, is more of a guide and gate keeper. She is ever vigilant and wary, a cat herder at feeding time. She is a lone beacon in a crowd of grown children. She broadcasts a neverending stream of directives, admonitions and nogotiations, and yet someone always somehow comes up with "Oh, I didn't see your message." At the close of another frantic day of chasing down miscreants, all she really craves is adult conversation.

These characterizations are extremes, but I'm sure they are familiar to most of us. The important thing is to remember that engineers are not totally irresponsible, and project managers are not just nags.