All Together Now?

I think this article generalises a bit too much and I could pick holes in some arguments without making an effort just by looking at people in my workplace.

It should be said that it heavily depends on the personality of the person(s) in question as well and if you have a "long lifer" Neanderthal opposed to a "spring chicken" stick of dynamite, you just know there will be very little teaching and learning going on between them and heaps of discordances.

Generalisation is the bane of our opinion forming process. Most people think the job is done once everything has been generalised and close the door to new experiences. The brain is like a parachute, it only works when it is opened. That counts for all age groups.

just wndrin...do u know who the writer of this saying is..? "The brain is like a parachute, it only works when it is opened."

This article opens a big can of worms. Most of the generalizations start with the basic premise that the people in question are in the possession of at least minimal intelligence and the ability to reason. I have worked with people who have been on the same job for as long as 12 years without a raise, and really have no clue as to why. I have worked with young and old alike who cannot grasp the concept of work ethic even when it is spelled out to them. I believe we have some serious cultural issues going on here which I would like to expound on, but I will wait to see what direction the discussion goes.

No one can learn anything from anyone else if:

They don't listen or pay attention.

They think they already know it all.

They have given up.

They just don't care.

Oh, and the Peter Principle is alive and working in our businesses today.

I have worked with people who have been on the same job for as long as 12 years without a raise, and really have no clue as to why.

Worse still, I am working with people now who have been at the same bench for 14 years and are PROUD of it. They think they wrote the book on the work they do and have the most appalling work ethic you can imagine. Sickies left right and center and openly obstructive especially to new ideas or improvements.

This also sets the wrong image for new people so it is difficult to change.

I had known about the principle you mention but never knew it had a name. Good reading, thanks.

This also sets the wrong image for new people so it is difficult to change.

... 'we've always done it that way' .
I usually respond to that gem with..

' Maybe you've always done it wrong? '

Del

One of my favorites is "they are not paying me enough to do this kind of work". Since the subject is intergenerational teaching, I would like to share a lesson learned from my father.

One day when I was about 21yrs. old I was helping my dad, who was a refrigeration technician at a produce company. I was not getting paid, just hanging out with my dad and hoping to learn a bit. So there I was, sitting on the concrete in the warm California sun, tools in hand, about to change an expansion valve. My dad comes walking around the corner, sees me and says "absolutely not. You don't ever work with your but on the ground. It doesn't give a good impression to management." This is a shortened version, but you get the idea. The point was that not not only do you always do the best work you can do, but you never allow the impression that you might be doing otherwise. Try to find that attitude in the work place today.

Annother lesson from Dad was: "You don't need to know everything, but you should know where to find the information when you do need it.

I have to confess that sitting in the sun, on your butt, and doing work does actually beat sitting in a stuffy office doing work! We only have a little 30" by 20" window to the outside world and even when it rains it looks attractive at times.

With regards to the last remark I fully agree, I have always said that any education is only to teach you to think so you can find out what you need to know about the job in hand. Any factual baggage is just that, useless weight only good for one purpose whereas the skill to find, derive and conclude can be applied to every situation.

The first lesson my father taught me was when I about 9 years old and pushing loads of fertlizer into the field with a wheelborrow. I hit a rock and kept bumping it in efforts to roll over it. Dad shouted hey turn around and pull it over the rock. I followed instruction and it was smooth as butter. When I came back for another load he said "Son you have to be smater than a rock".

Years later I saw my own sons doing the same thing with the same wheelborrow.

Another thing he taught me is "if you want someone to follow simple instruction teach them how to give simple instructions". He would give all the kids responsiblities of learning how to repair equipment and then we were assigned as the boss for that job. We were to instruct and assist our brothers on that job. He was always close by espically with engine rebuilds and brake jobs.

Every weekend we each had a to play boss then turn around and take orders. He really knew how to teach kids.

I have found that younger supervisors need to relate to the life and times that the workers they are to supervise have lived. Lack of a sense of history can make the supervisor detached from the mentallity of those they mean to work with. Most older workers have faced the hard times of life, buying a home and meeting that payment every month, keeping food on the table, taxes paid, insurance paid and most importantly keeping the wife happy.

Now here come Johnny Upstart with all his computing knowledge he has only been able to get because of the investments the government had made with the income taxes of the people before him paid!

Now their investment can either be a success or that same investment can be used as a weapon against them. They keep working while the companys seek to cut everything but Executives Salarys or Stock Options. They head home thinking I have been fooled all these years that my investments in things like education, NASA, and the Government are working against me and my family.

These men and woman have fought wars, battled diseases, built a country, maintained a country till recent years when the equity they had built up in this countrys started to be stripped away with tax cuts for some, corruption unchecked, little if any voice in local government and business laws that place the employee in the position of servant instead of member of the company. A business can call them all kind of names like Associate might as well be labled horse or mule.

To tell the truth it "DID NOT TAKE A BRIDGE TO FALL ON THEM" to realize they were no longer useful and feel they will be lucky to make it to retirement. This profit driven society has ripped the heart out of those who built this great country. I have supervised many hundreds of men and women over the years and connecting to them on the level as a fellow citizen is key.

If these Kids have never done a real days work, broken a sweat, worried over a sick child or sweated a house payment how would they ever know the pain and effort it takes just to show up most days?