For many years I have considered the idea of building and expanding the Mecanico brand. Friends, colleagues and Clients have advised this should be my next step. I have started the process many times, but each time somethings stops me; industry downturns, Covid lockdowns or possibly my own nature. I ask myself, what am I good at and what makes me happy?

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Industry has a tradition of promoting Engineers into management roles; to transfer from ‘making’ to ‘managing’, or from looking at the detail to looking at the bigger picture. As a young Engineer my goal was to be a manager like my peers, but when the opportunity arose I found the transition conflicting. I like to think I was a good leader and certainly approached the role with a lead by example attitude. However, this was possibly my first taste of the differential between leader and manager. The two are not necessarily the same, managers are not necessarily leaders and leaders don’t have to be Managers.

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Was I a good manager? Bosses were happy, projects were delivered on time and in budget. But how do you measure success? Internally I struggled to let go of the detail and got frustrated knowing I could do the job quicker and more effective. Perhaps the better question would be, was management good for me? If your mind works on a micro level, questioning the intricacies of a design detail and impact it will have on strength, stability, service life or fatigue resistance, then why fight it. Leaders don’t have to be managers.

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Today Mecanico is my attempt to answer that question. Passing up the opportunities of building empires or managing multi-discipline teams, I am a Sole Practitioner. I operate as an independent resource for high quality Engineering Services. Does this avoid management responsibilities? Well no, everyone has to manage, and running even a small business requires elements of Business and Project Management. However, as a Sole Practitioner, I can balance the management with the design, focussing on what I do best, the detail.

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To my Clients this is a win as I am at the centre of every project. I can bring in additional resources needed for a scope, but they supplement my delivery, not outsource it. Does this limit my horizons or those of Mecanico, well yes and no. There is of course a glass ceiling based on what I can physically achieve in a day, but if the alternative is to overstretch resources or lose sight of quality and delivery, then I’d rather have 10 good projects in a year than 15 poorly executed ones.

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For bigger multidiscipline projects I am fortunate to have a strong support network of colleagues and companies I work with on a regular basis to supplement my own skills. There will always be an upfront conversation with clients giving full disclosure on who is doing what. If this results in clients contracting me through these companies then it is what is best for the Project.