Compare predictions about how the position of an engineering manager might change to their predictions..

Prediction 1:

My life is likely going to change in a few ways over the next ten years because of my position as an engineering manager. In the first place, for me to be able to keep up with the rapidly shifting landscape of engineering, I will need to become more knowledgeable about the principles of systems engineering and be able to apply them with greater fluency. Second, to solve complex systems engineering problems, I would need to take a more iterative and collaborative approach, so I would need to be more agile in the way that I approach the problem-solving process. Thirdly, to manage systems engineering projects effectively, I would need to be more adaptable in my approach to project management. Systems engineering projects frequently involve the participation of multiple stakeholders, and it is necessary to manage the priorities of these stakeholders. In conclusion, I would need to pay more attention to the global context, as projects in systems engineering frequently involve working with people from other countries and call for a more comprehensive perspective on the undertaking.

Prediction 2:

I do not think that the Engineering Manager role will change all that much. We still will be working with the same practical approaches to solving problems as we have always done. But the roles and projects will change about as drastically as the technology does. By roles I mean the jobs we are tasking our teams with and pushing the limits of their skills while meeting the goals of the project and delivering on time and on budget. I think that like Scrum Masters being agile and moving freely through processes to reach the end goal will be the secret to our success (did you catch the movie reference?). I still see the future being in sustainability engineering and innovation. Without either the business will become stale and lose market share quickly in today's market. Bringing new products to market will be a key factor in business, but they cannot afford to ignore the current products or keep discontinuing products every time a new product comes out. In other words businesses must let life cycles of products flow and have support during that life cycle. In the next ten years the role of Engineering Manager will be to bridge the gap of sustainability and innovation while developing great products.