Perfect Versus Practical
All too often, people look at a problem and try to propose a perfect solution. While that is a good goal, it is most frequently an unrealistic goal. Most solutions are just practical ones… the best option given the circumstances at the time. Sometimes, it is close to a perfect solution but other times it is far away.
A professor in a laboratory can come up with a perfect product, for example, but that may very well NOT be the one that ends up being manufactured on the production floor of the factory. Sometimes, it just isn’t practical to build a product using the ultimate materials or the most precise methods… while you could do it, the product would cost so much nobody could afford it! So, engineers look at alternatives and decide on the best ones… compromises are made and a good product is made at a far more reasonable cost… and many, many more people can enjoy the benefits of using it simply because it is priced low enough for them to buy it.
Engineers are good at coming up with the best solution to a problem given a limitation of resources. Sure, they know the perfect solution… but recognize the reality at hand and arrive at the practical solution. They don’t simply give up because the answer isn’t “perfect”. They don’t delude themselves into believing only the “perfect” answer will get a job done. They don’t stubbornly insist on the “perfect” solution when they have found a practical alternative. Engineers don’t get emotional when the “perfect” solution cannot be found… they just do the best possible given what they have to work with.
Our country is great… but it does have some problems right now. I believe many, if not most, of these problems are because politicians and citizens are trying to come up with “perfect” solutions where they might not exist… making decisions based on emotions rather than reality… fooling others (and perhaps themselves) into thinking their answers will actually do the job when they will not.
For some reason, it doesn’t seem like many of our elected representatives have an engineering mindset. True, engineers don’t have a reputation for being “people persons”… which appears to the the main (if not only) requirement for political office… but they DO have a reputation for finding good solutions to complicated problems. So, if we can’t have an engineer representing us, why can’t our elected officials at least LISTEN to a trusted engineer? Henry Ford once admitted he wasn’t the best engineer in the world… but he HIRED the best engineers.
If we are REALLY going to solve the problems facing our country, politicians will have to listen less to their polling advisors and more to “engineering” advisors. We need to talk less about “perfect” solutions that will never be realized and more about “practical” solutions that can actually be achieved.
