Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.
Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.
New and noteworthy news
A management perspective to consider
Leadership insights to delve into
And more…
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Alright, let’s get into it.
Noteworthy Headlines
AI investment boosted economic growth, while consumers tapped the brakes (WSJ)
Highlights:
US GDP rose at a seasonally and inflation adjusted 2% annual rate in the first quarter.
Overall, business investment increased at a 10.4% annual rate in the quarter, the strongest growth in nearly three years.
Architecture firm billings approach growth in March (AIA)
Highlights:
The ABI was 49.8 for the month, meaning the share of firms reporting increasing billings was essentially equal to the share reporting decreasing billings.
This is the closest the metric has been to 50 (flat) since the first quarter of 2023.
2Q2026 Civil Infrastructure Construction Index (FMI)
Highlights:
The CICI slipped to 50.1 in Q2 2026 from 52.1 in Q1, reflecting a broad cooling in sentiment.
Eight of nine index components declined quarter over quarter, with only productivity ticking up modestly.
Backlog expectations remain positive at 54.7 but are decelerating.
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Management Perspective
In the world of engineering (and our highly litigious society), it can seem risky to say sorry. Lawyers will reinforce this notion of withholding apologies because apologizing can be interpreted as an admission of guilt.
It’s important to remember, though, that an attorney is just your advisor, and they are advising on one specific thing: legal risk.
Legal risk is very real and oftentimes costly. It’s usually quantifiable in dollar terms based on attorney fees and verdict/settlement dollars.
But minimizing your legal risk exposure can increase other types of risk, such as reputational and cultural risks. These risks, while also very real, are less quantifiable.
However, research on crisis communications consistently shows that organizations that acknowledge fault quickly and genuinely tend to recover their reputations faster than those that hedge, deflect, or stay silent.
Now, I’m not advocating for a blanket approach to automatically apologizing either. All risks need to be considered to determine an appropriate course of action.
Ultimately, I’ve found a general guiding principle to be helpful: Apologize when wrong, don’t when not. A lot of trouble can be avoided by following that mantra.
Management Insights
Cameron Hanes (endurance athlete) on letting people make an impact on your life:
“Don’t ever prejudge who can and cannot make an impact in your life. Even the most unlikely of people can turn out to be instrumental in your journey. Maybe the villain in your story is actually just an antihero in disguise.”
—
Clifford Hudson (former CEO of Sonic) on the risk of being an expert:
“Overinvesting in expertise is often riskier than learning to be adaptive and in an always-learning mode.”
—
Margaret Thatcher (former UK Prime Minister) on consensus:
“To me, consensus seems to be . . . the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead.”
Management Resource
When executive presence backfires (HBR)
An important reminder that the skills that got you into an upper management role aren’t necessarily the ones you need to perform in that role.
Get in Touch
Did something strike a chord? Tell me about it.
Or…
Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.
Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.
Let me know what challenges you see other managers having.
Send me an email at [email protected]
Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.
Collin
Engineering Echelons is a brand of Echelons, LLC
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