Engineering can be an exacting art, especially because it usually isn't.
Most of engineering is rote and may be extrapolated from the starting point. Very occasionally the task requires a spark of real insight, something that could not be foreseen.
The real trick is knowing which is which.
The dumb work of engineering can be high level, requiring extensive study of mathematics or theory for a long time, but it is still dumb work. Pull out the formula, insert the data, see what doesn't fit, add in a new module to correct, repeat. Once the engineer knows his domain he can do this all day long. It may be annoying and stressful but it is clerk work.
Every once in a while the engineer will look at his work and see that the standard practice isn't appropriate. It can still be done but it doesn't fit. It is time for more than clerk work.
This is what makes the engineer an engineer. The clerk work could be done in theory by anyone. It could be done by a machine. The engineer is able to identify when something is NOT clerk work.
He couldn't do it without slogging through the clerk work. He has to be there to identify the exceptions that rote practitioners wouldn't see.
The exceptions are where the engineer really shines. The exceptions are a tiny part of the process but sink the most resources and require the most ingenuity.
This is not restricted to engineering. It is part of life.
Most of life is rote and can be run with half your brain turned off. Every once in a while some threat or opportunity appears that requires insight to perceive. If you operate on the default setting, putting out only as much effort as is needed, you will miss it.
It is always better to operate at a higher level, not because normal live requires it but because you will be more likely to catch the secret inflection points.
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