Engineering the managers

Ajeet Nazre while addressing the audience during “Al Gore Sustainable Energy Competition” on 12^th of February touched a right chord. After a long time I heard someone whom I instantly liked. But what really spiraled into brooding was his statement “I adore engineers and not managers “.

Circa 2000, few aspiring engineers are being addressed by principal of one of better engineering colleges of India. Yes Mr. Principal your words still keep ringing in my ears. Guess you talked of couple of things. First being how prey become predators ( about ragging and how those “getting ragged” become raggers once they are in second year) and second of course about how India needs quality engineers and how happy he is to address 300 of them. True all four years I was trained to be an engineer and told how India needs roads, Watts of energy, new machines and I loved the attention. Being told that you are “future of India” .

But things go the way they should or should not. I cant comment on that. Engineers who should build India and specially the better engineers one from IITs/RECs are the ones violating it. They are the ones jumping the bandwagon of MBAs.

My take on it? We Indians are still in conceiving ideas , we still are far away from nurturing it in a motherly manner. I do adore engineers, I do like managers.

Still I know we produce quality engineers. Managers? We still are chasing the mirage; we are still away from being the best in this breed.

I have witnessed sheer razor sharp brilliance of Indian engineers; I have yet to see brilliant managers, yearn to see them sooner than later.