​In this article I want to encourage a habit in you. The habit of staying up to date with the latest in your specific field.
But first, I wanted to take the time to share with you that this is now the second year of this newsletter. The last issue was issue 52 so this one marks the start of the second year – volume II if you will. I did not plan to publish once a week, but, after publishing the first edition, a colleague, Andrew Waterson, said “I hope to see you doing this once a week from now on.” He tells me he does not recall saying this, but that it sounds like something he would say. Regardless, the effect was that I was motivated to keep on writing. So thanks go to Andrew.
I still have more content to come and I hope that past (future) content has helped (will help) you in some way to become a better engineer.
And that brings me back to the focus for this article: how to keep your finger on the pulse of your engineering discipline to stay up to date – or even ahead of the curve.
Obviously, I would suggest you keep reading my newsletter. You can also join the Global Engineer Group to see other posts, and share questions, thoughts and ideas with others. This is a relatively new group, and members are approved so the quality of others there can be maintained into the future. In addition, you can follow The Global Engineer page to be reminded of past articles and other posts.
But that’s general – what about staying up to date with advances in your specific area of engineering?
This is where Google Scholar is one of the greatest developments in the past decades. I recall when it started back in 2004. At the time, when I was doing my PhD, I would not have used it – it simply did not have the coverage needed nor did it have the search functions in the established databases. However, today, it has almost everything and excellent search functions.
Add the alert function and it is even better – you get the occasional (depending upon the specificity of your search term) email letting you know about recent publications on your topic of interest.
My current alert is just one phrase “engineering cognition” – that’s because this is my current area of interest.
You would obviously choose one that aligns with your industry – or the industry you want to get into so you know what skills you need to demonstrate as you make the transition.
As you read the articles you are alerted to, you will come across ideas you can put to use and better understand your industry. You will also have excellent professional development activities to report if you are a registered professional engineer who needs to do this.
Try Google Scholar now. See what the latest papers on your area teach you.
You might need to have a few goes – sometimes the phrases used by authors are not the like the one you would use.
Once you have a search phrase that gives you articles you like, hit the “Create Alert” link. That way you get automated updates. You don’t even need to go to Google Scholar to get the information anymore. You just sit back and wait for it to come to you in your inbox. To be read when suits you.
But you want to make it even easier? Then combine it with ChatGPT (or other AI).
Type this into your AI system of choice:
I would like to know about recent advances in [your area of interest]. Review articles that are available on Google Scholar that have the phrase [the search phrase you found that worked] in them. Then, give me a summary of the major topics covered and the associated findings.
This will be an even easier read. And it will still give you links so you can read in more detail anything that is of more interest to you. But it will only happen when you choose to do it – the email updates are good because you get the reminder.
None of the above is a replacement for structured professional development courses that are curated and delivered by experts (assuming they keep themselves up to date), but it will still keep you better informed than others.
And stop you slipping behind!

In this edition I am going to focus on what you can do to become the best engineer you can be.
Think about whomever you reckon is the best engineer of all time. It might be someone historical or someone you work with. It doesn't matter who it is, because I am going to explain how you can be just as good – if not better.
And it will not be just a lot of hype and motivational text. I am going to link this back to research so you know what I am talking about is rock solid.
 Let's start with what we know about the best engineers, then how skills in general can be developed, and finish off with developing the best strategy for you.

Engineering skill
The first thing to keep clear in your mind at all times is that there is no such thing as a natural engineer.
Some have certain aptitudes – an eye for proportion, a steady hand, or an interest in how things work – but none of that translates directly into engineering capability or skill. Engineering is built, not born.
But what are the skills the best have developed? They are framing, systemic thinking, and first principles. I have mentioned these in my book and how to improve them, but I will recap them here for reference.
Framing is about defining and redefining the problem before solving it. Many engineering errors originate from a poorly framed problem statement.
Systemic thinking is the recognition that every decision exists within a network of consequences. When you adjust one part, others respond – so be aware of them.
First principles thinking means returning to fundamentals. Rather than relying on established patterns or habits, ask why a rule exists and whether it still applies.

Getting good, then better, then excellent
In Pedagogics of Design Education, Vladimir Hubka and W. Ernst Eder proposed that it takes around 10 years to become an established design engineer, and be able to apply these attributes well.
This same number of years was noted by Anders Ericsson in his work on expertise, later discussed in Talent Is Overrated. Performance in any domain improves through what is called deliberate practice. This is not ordinary repetition. It is the systematic refinement of skill through focused challenges, constant feedback, and reflection. It’s demanding. It forces you to work at the edge of what you can currently do, to fail often, and to analyse why. Over time, the brain reorganises itself to perform at a higher level. And you need to do that for 10 years.
That’s a pro and a con. It might feel like a long time, but that also means you have plenty of time to get good – just don’t waste that time.
You can accelerate your development by being deliberate about what you do. Focus on developing each of those attributes (framing, systemic thinking and first principles).  
And when you are ready, add others like goal analysis, modal shifting, and team engagement. Each can be developed in the same way: by being conscious of when you are using it and when you are not.
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So what’s the best plan for you?
First off, awareness converts routine work into practice. So simply being familiar with the attributes (re-read my book to remind yourself) will set you on the right path.
But if you want structured exercises, then take a look at my website: cjsteele.com/engineering-expertise. I have developed and shared exercises designed to help you integrate deliberate practice into your day-to-day work. You can also use the AI system Ingeny, which is in development so you can help with that development, to run an audit of your current skills and identify where to focus next.
And if you want to combine your development with your daily activities, then be intentional at work. Improvement in engineering is not automatic – so don’t assume you will just get better with experience – instead, focus and make work work for you. For each engineering action you take at work, ask yourself: which of the engineering attributes could I or should I use here; how can I best use them; have I used them incorrectly in the past; how can I avoid doing that again?
Think again of the engineer you admire most. Their skill did not appear overnight. It was built through years of structured effort. You can do the same. With ongoing, focused practice, you can reach the same level of mastery. Actually, you have more support than they did – The Global Engineer was not around for them – so you can surpass it.
Becoming a global engineer is the ultimate upgrade. It does not rely on talent or luck. It comes from the decision to practise with purpose, to learn continuously, and to treat every challenge as an opportunity to refine how you think and create.
Good luck with it and let me know if I can ever help.

In some tribal societies, the most successful hunter didn’t go on every hunt. In fact, after making a few kills, they would stay back.
Not because they were tired. Not because they were lazy. But because they understood something fundamental about group survival: if only one person is doing the hard stuff, no one else gets the chance to improve.
Engineering teams work the same way.
Imagine you have a standout engineer on your team. The one who always figures out the problem first. Who gets handed the most challenging tasks. Who, when deadlines get tight or the project gets messy, is always the go-to person.
Sounds like am excellent engineer to have in your team, no?
But that could be a problem.
The Rockstar Engineer Trap
When one engineer becomes the “hero,” several subtle but significant problems can arise:

• Other engineers stop growing.
  If the best tasks, the real head-scratchers, are always funnelled to the same person, the rest of the team doesn't get the experience they need to improve. They plateau.
• Team morale declines.
  Eventually, the others stop stepping forward. Why try when the outcome is already decided? Engineers thrive on challenges and solving problems. With that gone, you risk disengagement and quiet quitting.
• The team becomes fragile.
  What happens when the rockstar engineer is sick, on leave, or leaves the company? If no one else has been allowed to develop their skills, the company will suffer.

And in global or multicultural teams, this dynamic can be even more pronounced.
Imagine a multinational company with engineers from five countries.
One engineer — perhaps from the same background as the manager, or who shares a language with a key client — naturally starts getting more responsibility. Maybe they simply "fit" better with the current project context.
Before long, they’re doing all the cross-cultural liaison work. They’re solving the most complex problems. Not because they’re the only one who could… but because they were the most convenient person to start with.
The result?

• The rest of the team never gets to practice working across cultures.
• The team’s global competency stagnates.
• And perhaps worst of all, team members from other regions may start to feel second-rate — even when they have the potential to contribute more.

As I note in my book, Engineering Is a Team Sport
We all want high-performing engineers. But building a high-performing team requires something more nuanced.
Sometimes, your best engineer needs to step back — not because they’re not needed, but because others are.
Distributing challenges, rotating leadership on difficult tasks, or simply having the awareness to say, “Let someone else take this one” — that’s not a loss. That’s how you build depth, resilience, and motivation across your team.
Just like the hunter who stayed behind, the global engineer knows: sometimes, stepping back is what's best.