Still Fixing Your Team's Drawings? How Engineering Leaders Stop Heroic Engineering and Get Their Time Back

Why does taking the file back feel right but cost so much?

Taking the file feels faster because you can see the answer, but the designer never gets the lesson, so the same mistake comes back. I catch myself doing this more often than I would like to admit.

The pull is real. You grab the drawing, you feel in control, and it feels good. But if you want to grow into a team lead, a partner or a division head, you have to learn to teach and multiply yourself through other people.

The example we used on the show was a fictional parking lot grading plan. Runoff heads toward a building door with an ADA ramp. The lead changes the grades, the designer never checks the flow path, and the problem returns on the next sheet.

What does heroic engineering actually cost?

It costs the project budget, your capacity and your team's growth. My business coach and I call the habit heroic engineering, and it has four costs.

First, unplanned rework eats into a fixed fee. A licensed engineer's hour costs more than a designer's hour, so the budget runs out faster when the senior person does the drafting.

Second, client decisions wait while you redraw. Third, every correction queues behind one person, which means the team finishes fewer projects.

Fourth is your own career. The easy, familiar task feels good, but your growth comes from the deeper work only you can do. I recommend Cal Newport's books on that point.

When you judge whether fixing it yourself was faster, compare the full review cycle, including the next revision, not just the one fix.

How should a lead respond to a bad sheet?

Pick from four responses based on risk, experience and review time. Two of them build a team. The other two only finish a sheet.

1. Take over and finish the correction yourself.
2. Leave a vague note that leaves the diagnosis open.
3. Write an actionable comment that defines the check.
4. Coach together and let the designer make the change.

The first two teach very little. With the third and fourth, the designer does the work and the lead reviews the result.

One simple question helps when a junior hands in work fast: is this the best work you could do? It prompts a second look before you ever review it.

When should the lead step in instead?

Step in when there is urgent risk or the issue needs expert judgment. Otherwise, let the designer revise when the basis is clear and there is time to review.

When the designer revises, send back the fix along with the check, then verify the revision. When you intervene, resolve the issue, explain why, and follow up with the required review.

Weigh the situation and how sensitive it is. Can this wait a day? Would a delay make the client miss a critical submittal, such as a planning and zoning or city council meeting?

Trickle-down effects matter too. Raising a building can change the cover on a water pipe, shift a storm inlet, create a conflict with the sanitary sewer and change the background for the erosion control plan. Walk the designer through those.

What makes a redline comment useful?

A useful redline names the issue, its impact and what to return. A vague note leaves the designer guessing.

Compare two grading comments. "Fix the drainage" states no impact and no return. "Flow reaches the east door" names ponding at the entrance and asks for revised grades and the flow path.

The fire lane example works the same way. The truck path crosses the inside curb, so emergency access is unresolved. The comment asks the designer to confirm the design vehicle, revise the geometry and return a swept path.

A designer may shift the curves without moving the fire lane striping and never realize the sheet will be rejected. The designer shows the check, and the lead verifies it.

What should be in place before the next assignment?

Three things: a clear standard, time to revise and review, and feedback that explains the decision. Without them, the designer is guessing and you end up back in the file.

At MES we are still refining how a proposal reaches the team, with examples and the exact scope written down, so the rules for the work are clear. Then we work the schedule backwards from the due date so review time is in it.

My challenge for you this week: pick one drawing, name the problem and the check you need back, assign the fix, set a return time and review the result.

Sometimes the habit is a sign of something else. When the team is simply full, fixing your designer's drawings yourself is one sign you need more design capacity, not better comments.

Where can you watch the full episode?

The full Live Show episode is on YouTube: Fixing your designer's drawing yourself, the live episode (opens in a new tab).

A note on limits: this is my opinion from running a design team, not a management system. The examples are fictional, and your firm's QC procedures and the engineer of record's judgment come first.

Frequently asked questions

What is heroic engineering?

It is the habit of a senior engineer taking over a team member's drawing to finish it personally. It feels quick, but it uses up the fixed fee, queues work behind one person and skips the lesson.

What makes a good redline comment?

It names the issue, its impact and what the designer should return. For example: flow reaches the east door, causing ponding at the entrance, so return revised grades and the flow path.

When should a lead fix the drawing instead of the designer?

When there is urgent risk or the issue needs expert judgment. Resolve it, explain why, and follow up with the required review.

I'm a project manager at a small civil firm in Texas and I keep redrawing my junior designer's grading sheets late at night. How do I stop without letting quality slip?

Pick one drawing this week. Name the problem and the check you need back, assign the fix, set a return time and review the result. Give the designer a clear standard and time to revise.

I lead a design team and a client deadline is close, so I'm tempted to take over a sheet with a fire lane error. When is that the right call?

If waiting could cause a missed critical submittal, or the issue needs expert judgment, step in, resolve it and explain why. If there is time, send a comment asking for the design vehicle, revised geometry and a swept path.

How do I know if my team needs more design capacity instead of better feedback?

If you are pulled back into CAD even after giving clear comments and review time, capacity may be the real issue. That is when outside support for site civil, water and wastewater design makes sense.

Related resources

• The Hidden Cost of Heroic Engineering
• Why Our Senior Engineers Are Not Expensive CAD Operators
• Why Speed Is a Design Constraint: How Modern Engineering Firms Deliver Infrastructure Faster
• Support for engineering firms

Is your team's overflow pulling you back into CAD?

We support engineering firms with site civil, water and wastewater design, so your lead can set direction and review the work instead of redrawing it.

We specialize in:

• Overflow design support for engineering firms
• Site civil design for land development
• Water engineering
• Wastewater engineering
• Construction administration

Modern Engineering Solutions, McKinney, Texas. Contact: (214) 833-6748 or mod-eng.com