Of course! It can and should be something that is encouraged in most, if not all, workplaces.

Im saying that’s not the case, even going outside engineering. The emphasis is on learning and polishing your primary skill, not tertiary, or even adjacent skillsets. If it happens and improves workload, great! But if we catch you doing it when you could be making money instead, for shame…

I would say in professions like engineering, where you are doing more problem solving, there is a higher tolerance. Especially since a lot of PMs and supervisors are or were engineers themselves. But tolerance is not acceptance.