Peter Atherton Archives - Engineering Management Institute

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Whether newer to the workforce or with 20 or more years’ experience, so many of us are:

Feeling the weight of burnout and disengagement,
Yearning for more meaning and purpose, and
Wanting to make a difference in solving issues facing our world and those we care about.

Organizationally, many of us are also struggling to attract and retain inspired talent, clients, vendors, and partners to help us grow and be sustained.

There are many factors that lead to these circumstances, but when the prolonged work overload is finally addressed and the workflow improved, how do we better engage?

After we have “mastered our craft” and “made a name” for ourselves, how do we find greater meaning and purpose — and make a difference beyond the office and our immediate families?

Even as we build our careers, how can we leverage what we know to have a bigger impact and to improve our communities and the lives of others?

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

What We Need to Know About Human Disaster Response and Trauma

There is no doubt that we have been going through a season of much higher fear, anxiety, and trauma with the COVID-19 crisis and the very visual revealing of racial injustice and inequities previously ignored. 

Our stressors are also multifaceted and connected with different concerns.

On one hand, our concerns are related to health, economics, isolation, and an uncertain and non-uniform re-opening. On the other hand, our concerns are related to seeing large gaps in long-standing social constructs associated with equality, justice, and inclusion.

Even as we begin to work through the “peaks,” medically and in terms of concerns over our organization’s near-term financial health, and as we begin to better listen, understand, and take new actions as citizens and society, the fact is that we will not — and must not — just return to “normal.” 

Between then and now, however, there are things we need to know and steps we need to take to help ease concerns and come out of these periods of crisis stronger, better, and more resilient. 