> not understanding and following requirements isn't something engineers should be doing IMO I disagree, engineers are not robots. Good engineers may second

> not understanding and following requirements isn't something engineers should be doing IMO I disagree, engineers are not robots. Good engineers may second guess and get technically involved in adjusting badly written instructions or mangled schematics, and do so all the time. And no, the "process" for querying and changing requirements is not always practical. Of course good engineers should document and report all deviations from the recspec and talk to the quality manager. Spotting that a capacitor or diode voltage is under-rated and swapping the part number, no problem. Upgrading a part if it makes no other difference seems okay too. I've been very grateful to fab or pick and place engineers who corrected a silly mistake I made instead of just sending me back a board that obviously wouldn't work. But those kind of people who take initiatives are rare to find these days,