Engineering Design Methods

Early in your career, physical proximity beats almost everything else. When I look back, the deepest accelerations in my own growth, shifting how I think, build, or lead, nearly always happened when I was physically around those more experienced than me. At AWS, Microsoft, and all my other employment, I often sat in rooms where I was the least senior or knowledgeable. Nothing in a virtual classroom taught me how to speak to executives on the spot, handle high stakes conflict, or observe how seasoned engineers behave under pressure. That everyday osmosis mattered. The evidence reinforces this. Thomas Allen’s MIT research showed that meaningful interaction decreases sharply with distance dropping dramatically beyond fifty metres. Even today, those patterns hold, despite digital tools. Remote teams produce three times weaker performance links compared to face to face interaction, the quality of discussion contributes twice as much to effectiveness than frequency does. This isn’t a remote‑work rebuke. Life, health, location, family responsibilities, all those factors matter. But if you can be present, formally or informally, choose it. Ambient learning, corridor conversations, sudden brainstorming, they don’t always translate over video. Likewise, if you’re further along, your presence isn’t a favour, it’s stewardship. You don’t need to mentor deliberately or run formal programmes. Simply being open, accessible, interruptible, for the person watching you - that’s enough. They won’t just learn skills. They’ll learn what professionalism, emotional resilience, systems thinking, even what being calm under fire looks like. So here’s the ask: If you’re early in your career or switching disciplines, wherever possible, be near the people you can learn from. And if you’re more experienced, stay in the room. Be the example. Be the sounding board. Be the doorway you once needed. That’s how we ensure visibility into what comes next for all of us.

How can you turn the saying "𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮" into something practical and actionable? You head to a Peer Conference! Over the years, I've been to and organised a bunch of them. They're great places to meet with colleagues to share experiences, get help, question each other, explore ideas, glean new insights into current or past problems, or seek advice about an upcoming opportunity/situation. But what even is a Peer Conference? Adrian Segar describes them as: "...𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺-𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.". The key word in that definition is 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. It was easily the biggest differentiator between peer conferences and more traditional conferences. Based on events I've attended, here are some characteristics that make them so effective: 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀: These are personal stories based on real-world experiences that demonstrate how theoretical concepts were applied in real-world scenarios. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻: This is when the other participants get to challenge the content of the story (while someone is sharing their experience report, you're only allowed to ask clarifying questions). This might be done by asking questions or making observations about what was the same, what was different, what was surprising, what was predictable, offer suggestions, push back on conclusions, and whole myriad of other things! 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The best facilitators maintain a safe space for the participants, monitor the energy in the room, and protect the structure of the sessions and overall conference. Hopefully you're starting to see the benefits of attending something like this! But just in case, let's get specific: 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: Exploring the experiences and challenges of peers in your line of work generates new ideas and solutions. Especially when you're facing similar situations. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Events of this kind encourage you to step out of your comfort zone (but not in an uncomfortable way!). By engaging in face-to-face interactions and discussions you improve your communication skills and build your self-confidence. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Spending time with highly-motivated and like-minded professionals can jump start the passion and enthusiasm for your work. Getting away from your work environment gives you a chance to reflect on your practices, goals, gain a new perspectives on your careers, and prevents burnout. If you get the chance to attend one, please take it! Then let us know how you got on :)

2 hours of training saves 200 hours of frustration. Why face-to-face beats interface: I recently had a great conversation with Ellie Keene about what really works in construction tech adoption. Here's the interesting part: When she runs training sessions… Only half the time is spent on our platform. The other half? Teaching people the basics. How to: - Update apps - Take better site photos - Manage their devices. It might sound strange for a tech company to focus on these fundamentals. But this "concierge approach" transforms how teams adapt to digital tools. Behind the scenes, we're watching everything: - Login patterns - Completion times - Common frustrations. Not to monitor - to help. When we spot someone taking 30 minutes on what should be a 3-minute task, we reach out. "How did you know I was struggling?" is something we hear a lot. The magic happens when teams realise there's a real person ready to help. Not a chatbot. Not an email. A person they met, who trained them, who knows their name. Because great technology needs great support. And great support is always personal.