There is no doubt that when deciding to enter the field of engineering I made a stupid mistake - engineers are held accountable for their actions. If they are contracted to manufacture a product and it does not work, they do not get paid. If they are asked to repair something and the repair-job does not work, they do not get paid either. Contrast this with some of the other professions.
If one visits a doctor with an illness and the doctor fails to cure the illness, you are still required to pay the bill. A colleague recently underwent a course of cortisone injections for osteoarthritis in her knee. Of course great suffering was experienced both at the time of injection, and upon receipt of the specialist's bill. As the problem did no't clear up, further opinion was sought. Subsequent investigations by another doctor have revealed that the initial diagnosis was incorrect and that the administration of injections into the knee was inappropriate. And yet the first doctor still had to be paid for his incorrect diagnosis and treatment - amazing! A medical friend recently assured me that this was because medicine is an 'inexact science'. Trust me, there is nothing 'inexact' about the bills received for a service rendered that did not correct the problem.
Our friends in the South African legal fraternity really got it right. They will agree to represent a client in a case, even when the client has no chance of winning the case. Of course 'counsel will sit in chambers' and assure the client that they can win the case. When the case is lost the client is still presented with a large bill.
Another group that chose wisely when deciding on a career are economists. When asked what the future of any country's economy is, with great fervour economists will predict the certainties of tomorrow. Of course when the vast majority of these predictions do not come to pass, economists have the ability to fob off any inaccuracies on 'unpredictable factors'. How many economists predicted the collapse of the South African currency late last year? And yet when one speaks to them now, they all speak with great certainty on the subject, as if they had accurately predicted the slump.
Can you imagine an engineer having the gall to bill a client for maintenance performed on a control system, despite not having fixed the problem? The idea sounds laughable and yet other professions get away with it. Why should we not?
On a more serious note, our advertisers should have received the 2003 media-kits for SA Instrumentation & Control by the time that this issue is printed. Should you not have received your copy of the media-kit yet, you can contact Jane Fortmann on (031) 764 0593 or [email protected]
Graeme Bell
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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