Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Different aspects of emotional intelligence are needed between two different professions.

Different aspects of emotional intelligence are needed between engineering and soldiery. Firstly, there are different requirements for the personal sentiment between the two professions. As an engineer, he/she may not require high self-motivation as compare to the soldiery. Project schedule will help the engineer to achieve accomplishment independently to individual’s self-motivation. But for a soldier, he/she should be motivated to serve his/her country. The level how the soldiers are motivated, will directly influent the result of the battle even to the war. Secondly, different interpersonal skills are required for the two professions. For engineering, conclusions are always made by group discussions or team co-operation. Therefore, it is important for the engineer to have good interpersonal skills, like communication skills, to make efficiently and effectively decision. On the other hand, for soldiery, decisions are made almost by certain individual from the top down, for example from president to general, general to commander. It is also required team work, but that will be more depends on tactical training but less involve of personal opinion. Therefore, the need of interpersonal skills are different. Thirdly, self-awareness is more required for engineering. For example, an engineer will only work properly when he/she knows what his/her is capable of. For example, cockiness of an engineer may cause of over look of mistakes and leads to failure of works. However, for a soldier, he/she will be required to obey the order from higher level. Individual’s self-awareness may not affect the progress deeply. All in all, engineering and soldiery require different level of emotional intelligence in some aspects.

2 comments:

Brad Blackstone said...

Thanks, Meng Wei, for posting this highly detailed paragraph. It's interesting, but of course, a bit of an overgeneralization, because the best and most high ranking soldiers are probably, in some sense, also engineers. I think of Napoleon (before his disastrous Russian campaign, before Waterloo). I think of American generals like George Patton and Douglas MacArthur in the Second World War. What about Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, and Alexander the Great?
(China has a long history of great generals!) Wasn't engineering fundamental to their way of war (and peace) and to their victories?

Ma Li said...

Hi, meng wei. i think your paragraph are very detail by giving many examples. but for your third point "self-awareness is more required for engineering". i don't quite agree with that. I think self-awareness is important for soldiers as well. Althought, they are follow orders the cockiness of an soldier will also effect the result of the battle.