The Le Taureau Engineering Philosophy

It's been awhile since I've posted, and I'll keep this one brief. 

Simplicity and Complexity

I think that school (particularly engineering education) gives students a large variety of problem-solving tools, but it doesn't necessarily teach how to use them. There are, of course, application problems, labs, case studies, and other helpful tools that do help students learn to problem-solve, but a gap still exists because they are taught to solve these problems using their intensely-studied complex theory. In engineering, students constantly study the complex, and then, understandably, turn to the complex for solutions. This, I think, is a bit of a problem. Solutions in the real world are often simple, at least at their core.

For example, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, travelers often complained about the time it took to get their luggage at the baggage claim. Well, the airport did what most people would have done: they analyzed employee efficiency in retrieving the baggage and swapped the conveyer motors for more advanced, powerful ones. But these "improvements" didn't ultimately do much, and the complaints continued. The solution? Somebody cleverly decided to increase the distance between the terminal and baggage claim; that way, the passengers spent more time walking and less time waiting. All the airport had to do was use the terminals that were furthest away from the baggage claim.

What I learn from this example is that perhaps the biggest key to problem solving is to first understand the problem itself. Here, the problem was not that the bags took too long to reach the passengers; that's what I would have thought if I was tasked to solve it. The problem, at its core, was that people don't like to stand around and wait. It really is more simple than it first appears.

The Le Taureau Philosophy

The collection of lithographs shown below is called Le Taureau (French for "the bull") and was done by Pablo Picasso. Speaking of Picasso, the lithographer Mourlot said "in order to achieve his pure and linear rendering of the bull, he had to pass through all of the intermediary stages". Essentially, it portrays the simplification of the bull, until all necessary information is captured into its purest form. There were several who mocked Picasso for this, saying that he got it all backwards and that he ended up where one would have normally started, or that his final bull looks more like an insect than a mammal. 

Allegedly, this is Steve Jobs' favorite collection of artwork because, as previously explained, it depicts progressive simplicity. Jobs was all about trimming the unnecessary fat from his products and excelled at creating technology that was elegant and simple, yet didn't sacrifice capability.

I'm rambling a bit here, but my point is that problem-solving is really a form of art; an artform that I readily accept that I am nowhere near mastering. But, in my opinion, it is important to internalize the philosophy that hard problems can be broken down to a simple core, which may indeed have a simple solution. It is not easy to do this, and requires work, but I believe that true engineering (synonymous with true problem-solving) requires a deep understanding of what the problem is.

Or, are the critics of Picasso's lithographs right? Is the last bull better than the first?

-Dallin