Unwritten Laws of Engineering: Revised and Updated Edition Revised Edition

by W. J. King (Author), James G. Skakoon (Author)

152 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0791801628

ISBN-10: 0791801624

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This fully revised and updated edition of the 1944 classic serves as a crucial compilation of 'house rules' or a professional code. This new edition keeps the style of the original and much of its content. Changes reflect shifted societal values, changed employment laws and evolved corporate structures. Packed with contemporary examples, this new volume is a must for those entering the engineering field or for those interested in improving their professional effectiveness.

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Product details

Publisher : American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Revised edition (June 1, 2001)
Language : English
Paperback : 69 pages
ISBN-10 : 0791801624
ISBN-13 : 978-0791801628
Item Weight : 4 ounces
Dimensions : 5.98 x 0.16 x 9.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #381,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #599 in Business Management (Books)
- #717 in Engineering (Books)

Customer Reviews:
152 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jeannette M. Pepin

Common sense yet insightful distillation of best practices

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018

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It's a testament either to the insightful nature of this book, or the essential sameness of human organizations, that all the principles and scenarios described in this 1944 text are intensely familiar and relatable to me as a software engineer working in 2018. I suspect it applies to most professions to some degree, since it is more about human interaction than engineering. It's a fairly quick read, and the advice is blunt and likely useful to people at almost any stage of their career.

4 people found this helpful

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CKJ

Must read book for any working professional.

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2012

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Anyone working professional that is in a company big enough to have seperate job functions (or departments, if you like) can benefit tremendously from this book. It might as well be titled, "Unwritten Laws of Working with Other Adults to Accomplish Work and Achieve Personal Success". Of course, that might not fit so easily on such a small front cover.

I stumbled upon this book about 3 years into my first job as an engineer at a large corporation. Immediately I wished I had found it the day I first started. All of the principles in this book are clear, concise, and make perfect sense to implement. I feel like my attitude towards what I'm being asked to do at work has improved tremendously, and I don't think it was bad to begin with. It's like I finally "get it", and I can spot my co-workers who still do not.

What do you do when you're being asked to work on something beneath your abilities?
What is the single greatest attribute of a new professional?
How do you handle being asked to do something by another department?
How do you handle enlisting another department to peform work for your projects? Or, how do you handle a project that affects another department's function or domain?

All of these questions are answered and more.

It seems amazing that a book written so long ago by some engineer in a different field, different company, and different job could hit the nail on the head so precisely. If someone had told me this book was written in present day by one of my co-workers, I would have believed them. I have since read this book once a year, because I firmly believe it is the key to success. I think it should be handed out to every college grad who will be going to work for others.

12 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Should be Required Reading for all Engineering Students

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2018

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This book was recommended by a highly-respected professor in my engineering Senior Design course. As stated in the book's introduction, the "code of conduct" in this book was gathered by actual engineers as they observed situations that caused problems in the workplace; however, I would say that this book would also be useful for people in non-engineering disciplines who commonly interact with engineering departments. The book starts with information deemed essential for beginners in the field such as myself, then transitions into advice for managers, and ends with advice on personal and professional considerations. The advice in this book goes from the simple "Demonstrate the ability to get things done", to the more subtle "Develop a 'let's go see!' attitude". It's a quick read, but in my opinion should be a required read, as it seems like a book that could save me a lot of headaches in the future.

2 people found this helpful

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Ron George

The essential interpersonal skills book for the engineer

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2012

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Inventor and engineer James Skakoon has done the profession of engineering a great service by delivering some immutable codes of the engineering profession. Somewhere in this book, the naked truth is mentioned - a number of empirical studies of on-the-job excellence have clearly and repeatedly established that communication, interpersonal skills etc play a larger role in superior job performance than just being a scholar in technical details. Yet, most of the university and school emphasis is precisely in the latter area.

This book bridges the gap by offering a glimpse at the "soft" skills', gathered from engineering experience. The rules are not wordy and there certainly are no page length case studies with each. But the short, clear statements will at least make you cognizant of these interpersonal relationships and personal codes when carrying out day to day engineering decisions at the office. The book is also well suited for executives, who often forget that it is important to deal with subordinates in the "right" manner, regardless of distinct management styles. When the going gets tough, yes you may have to be a headache to everyone in the office but there needs to be a line that you cannot cross.

I feel this is a golden book that must be used from time to time, not just read once and stuffed away in a drawer somewhere for dust to collect.

5 people found this helpful

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RJ Washington

An oldie but very applicable

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2012

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I rate this as a must read for College engineering students as a guide to the 'real world' of engineering. For professionals it is a primer of things you should have learned or will learn through the progression of your career. I enjoyed it, as it is a 30min to 1 hr read, but very very applicable.

My favorite portion deals with feature creep, which is the bane of engineers. The statement is know when to 'freeze' design at where the design meets specifications, requirements, timeline, and cost. After the rev 1 is complete it is much easier to add onto a complete functional design than to fix a design which hasn't been shaken out or built.

What do I know? 13 years into the engineering industry and I wish I would have had this in college, and gave it a read once a year to refresh my memory and chisel of a few rough edges to make me a better person/engineer/supervisor/manager.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

JFK

The best advice you'll ever get

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2011

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This little book is worth every penny, and should be read by anyone aspiring to manage or lead other people. It is derived from the important processes of manufacturing that requite attention to detail and the completion of all stages in production to achieve a perfect product. This can be applied to dealings with people.\
Think about when the book was written: 1944 - middle of World War II. The greatest industrial upheaval the western world has known - more things built, more people employed, more people moved - yet still the lessons are to be learnt 70 years later.
Thank you to Stephen Bailey for bringing this Book back into the public consciousness: there are 23 items of advice that aspiring managers and leaders will ignore and forever be damned!

2 people found this helpful

Luis GValle

Pure gold

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2017

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Common sense written down as "laws" for Engineering professions. I find it very interesting how it applies perfectly to software development jobs

One person found this helpful

Jack

Bought a physical copy after listening to the audibook

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2019

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A good of a bible for engineering soft skills if there ever was one

NastyReader

Best practical book on engineering !!!

Reviewed in India on April 13, 2018

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Can't think of a better book on engineering

One person found this helpful

Abhinav Singh

Must read

Reviewed in India on June 28, 2019

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Still relevant today

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