Engineers are naturally curious about how things work. This curiosity often inspires them to pursue engineering as a career, driven by a desire to innovate, improve systems, and make processes more efficient.
Their creativity and motivation to enhance how things function continue to drive advancements that benefit the industries they serve.
While engineering is a highly technical field, success also depends on soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and leadership. These transferable skills are essential for navigating the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of modern engineering roles.
Understanding Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM)
Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) is a relatively new discipline compared to more traditional branches of engineering. It focuses on maintaining and optimizing essential public infrastructure systems, including transportation networks, utilities, and public facilities. Although rooted in engineering, IAM also intersects with finance, operations, and public policy.
According to the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), asset management is an internationally recognized approach to the sustainable management of built infrastructure and services. It addresses financial, social, and environmental sustainability while ensuring reliable service delivery to communities, guided by the International Standard ISO 55000.
Effective asset management requires understanding the trade-offs among cost, risk, and performance when making decisions about community-owned assets, both in the short and long term.
The importance of simplicity in asset management
Ross Waugh, founder of Waugh Infrastructure Management, highlights the risks of making IAM overly complex.
In his paper, “Infrastructure Asset Management: Make Everything as Simple as Possible, but Not Simpler,” Waugh cautions that asset managers can sometimes become “buried” in technical analysis, a state he calls analysis paralysis.
This occurs when excessive focus on data and details prevents timely decision-making and limits engagement with communities and decision-makers.
Waugh emphasizes the need for simplicity without sacrificing essential complexity. He cites two influential thinkers to support his argument:
- Albert Einstein: “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
- Steve Jobs: “Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
Jobs’ approach to product design at Apple — transforming complex computer systems into user-friendly devices — illustrates the power of clarity and simplicity. Achieving this level of simplicity, however, requires deep understanding, critical thinking, and skillful execution.
Applying the principle of simplicity to IAM
Ross Waugh suggests that the same design philosophy can benefit infrastructure asset management. Simplifying IAM concepts helps clients and organizations better understand its purpose, goals, and outcomes.
Because each one manages different assets and serves diverse communities, the IAM approach should be adaptable rather than overly standardized.
By simplifying IAM frameworks —such as presenting an Infrastructure Asset Management diagram that visually captures goals and processes —asset managers can communicate complex ideas clearly, align stakeholders, and make better-informed decisions.
In essence, Waugh’s advice to asset managers is clear:
Simplify your concepts, clarify your thinking, apply these principles to your work, and communicate with precision.
Read Ross’s paper: Infrastructure Asset Management, Make Everything as Simple as Possible, But not Simpler.
Source:
Waugh, R. (2017). Infrastructure Asset Management, Make Everything as Simple as Possible, But not Simpler. Waugh Infrastructure. Retrieved from https://waughinfrastructure.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Infrastructure-Asset-Management-Making-Everything-as-Simple-as-Possible.pdf
What is Asset Management? (2024). IPWEA. Retrieved from https://www.ipwea.org/ipweacommunities/assetmanagement
What Is an Infrastructure Manager? (2025). SCG. Retrieved from https://www.spencerclarkegroup.co.uk/what-is-an-infrastructure-manager/
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