Universal job skills?

[Frosty]

I hear you but I'm thinking you have marketable qualifications there are lots of outfits that depend heavily on comps. Albuquerque ain't bad though I've only visited briefly. Finding good medical is really important, it's why I low balled my wages to work for the State. I've had worse jobs but the bennies made up for the general suckyness. 

Ah rockstar! Good tactics and I've been saying the TPAAT applies to anything you're hunting. When I transferred off the drill crew to road maintenance I back channeled. Walked across the yard to their offices and asked if they had an opening. Most any large company keeps open positions on the books to be able to hire desirables and to keep the money in the budget. That's a long story I won't belabor anybody with, personally satisfying as it was.

I'd love to have my mind back so I could start learning Linux, I'm sick of being data mined every time I check email. It should NOT spend 30-60 seconds sending data then another 30 receiving data BEFORE downloading the mail. Grrrrrr. Auto update reset itself to automatic and I can't figure out how to shut it off. Micro$oft stinks the DELUXE big stinky but my learning curve is almost inverted. Don't say Apple, too expensive. 

I'm thinking of asking my computer guru if he'll come out of retirement long enough to upgrade my laptop to a solid state drive. A new comp would be nice but my allowance is spoken for and this one works well enough.  <sigh>

Are there any good books to learn Linux? I don't have much use for the X will let you do "followed by a long list of bells and whistles" I have to hunt through to find the sentence that tells me HOW to do X. I really need basic how to or I'm sunk. I distract so easily learning is a real fight. Unless mistakes cause physical pain and bleeding that is. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[George N. M.]

I've been following this thread and thought that I'd chime in on essential job skills.  One skill that I have noticed is difficult for some people is knowing when to let go of one job and move on to the next task.  It is sort of a manifestation of perfectionism.  Knowing when an effort is good enough for a particular job is not easy for some folk.  In blacksmithing it is knowing that every little blemish does not have to be ground out and that every knife does not have to be polished to a mirror finish.  In the law I have seen attorneys who have a very hard time stopping doing research and starting to write the brief or motion.  There is a fine balance between not good enough and too good.  Some jobs require intense attention to detail and some require a very coarse finish.  Knowing the difference and being able to apply the different requirements can be a very essential job skill.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[rockstar.esq]

George,

That's a really excellent point!

I've also encountered people who were at the opposite end of the perfectionist spectrum who act like briars, just looking for a way to generate a snag. 

I typically find them working in the quotes department wherever a custom part is needed in a time-sensitive situation.  

[ThomasPowers]

There was a quote in one of John Ringo's books to the effect that "in every project there comes a time when you have to shoot the engineer and go into production".  It was referring to diminishing returns and so spending millions to save thousands with a more perfect design.

[George N. M.]

Thomas, that is what is called "freezing the design."  At some point in developing a product that you have to say that it is as good as it is going to get and go to production.  This is one of the reasons that the US and the Allies were able to out produce the Axis by at least an order of magnitude during WW2.  German weapons, individually, were often more innovative than American ones but it took so long to get them into production that only a relatively few of them ever reached the hands of the troops.

This philosophy is best expressed in the aphorism "The perfect is the enemy of the good."

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[anvil]

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 2:41 PM, rockstar.esq said:

Your comments remind me of a few things.Aim at what you can hit.  Chasing every opportunity simply because it exists is an excellent way to squander your shot at all the opportunities.

More businesses go out of business because of the bad job(s) they won, than any number of good jobs they lost.  Be selective about who you work for.

Sorry for the delay. Between a month long house guest and a shop build, time is going by on an already too short of a summer.  

I reviewed my post and truly can't see where you got this. However, Heres my perspective on it. "aim at what you can hit".  This adds to our ongoing discussion concerning craftsmen. It truly applies to the trades. Framers,Roofers, Drywall< etc and all the rest. All that is required is to do your job within the parameters of the bid. This includes meeting the time, material, and dollar bids you have made. And, doing it at a skill level that the next crews dont have to do too many modifications to accomplish their job.  You know. the concrete guys never get anything plumb and square enough! However this concept creates a dead end for a craftsman. You will end up in mediocrity and those clients who want the best will continue to allude you. Thus, again this is good advice for many "Jobs", but not for all. 

"more businesses go out of business because of the bad jobs they won, than any number of good jobs they lost". I tend to agree with this, with the understanding that "good and bad" must be defined. Do understand that one definition does not fit all. 

"Be selective about who you work for.". Lol i cant agree more. To elaborate, there are far more general contractors and construction companies out there that tend to put "the Crafts" into the same light as you, than those who use these same craftsmen as needed to further satisfy the wants/needs of their clients. The former rarely work out very well. The latter are worth their weight in gold. Alas, too often the learning experience to separate the wheat from the chaff is part of the trip.

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 2:41 PM, rockstar.esq said:

I see where you're coming from in terms of positive thinking, but in business, there are serious ramifications to biting off more than you can chew.  

Again, another bit of advice that perpetuates mediocrity and prevents growth and challenge. It also, as above, limits your clientèle. I nearly always include in my designs elements, techniques, and concepts that I want to learn. To minimize those ramifications i always make a full size sample as part of my design process. This always includes my personal "challenges". This solves two problems you have mentioned. Each of equal importance. The first is I can figure out the tooling and process for these challenges and second my client sees EXACTLY what and why they are getting for their money. Thus there is NEVER any dishonesty between client and craftsmen

.  And you know as well as I do,,, just what "shortcuts and mistakes" are hidden behind that finished drywall in conventional construction. One of the few people I worked for as a welder had a personal ethic,, " if the inspectors dont catch it, its good!"

 

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 2:41 PM, rockstar.esq said:

For what it's worth, I've met quite a few ethically weak people who are experts at explaining why their dishonest "techniques" are necessary.  It's been my experience that no single factor is more likely to ruin a human endeavor than dishonesty

Me too. Its far easier to do this when so much can be hidden by drywall. Case in point,,, A contractor of note had a favorite scam. After the insulation was inspected and passed (final framing inspection?) he pulled the to code insulation and substituted it for substandard, then finished the building"to code". 

" I've met quite a few ethically weak people who are experts at explaining why their dishonest "techniques" are necessary". Just curious, do you consider such techniques as mortise and tenons, collars, etc to be in this category of dishonest techniques? Personally the concept of these being dishonest necessary techniques has never been an issue. A full size sample showing just what you are getting solves that every time. It then becomes an aesthetic choice that is totally up to the client.

 

 

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 2:41 PM, rockstar.esq said:

For what it's worth, I've met quite a few ethically weak people who are experts at explaining why their dishonest "techniques" are necessary.  It's been my experience that no single factor is more likely to ruin a human endeavor than dishonesty

Me too. Its far easier to do this when so much can be hidden by drywall. Case in point,,, A contractor of note had a favorite scam. After the insulation was inspected and passed (final framing inspection?) he pulled the to code insulation and substituted it for substandard, then finished the building"to code". 

" I've met quite a few ethically weak people who are experts at explaining why their dishonest "techniques" are necessary". Just curious, do you consider such techniques as mortise and tenons, collars, etc to be in this category of dishonest techniques? Personally the concept of these being dishonest necessary techniques has never been an issue. A full size sample showing just what you are getting solves that every time. It then becomes an aesthetic choice that is totally up to the client.

 

 

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 2:41 PM, rockstar.esq said:

I see where you're coming from in terms of positive thinking, but in business, there are serious ramifications to biting off more than you can chew.  

Again, another bit of advice that perpetuates mediocrity and prevents growth and challenge. It also, as above, limits your clientèle. I nearly always include in my designs elements, techniques, and concepts that I want to learn. To minimize those ramifications i always make a full size sample as part of my design process. This always includes my personal "challenges". This solves two problems you have mentioned. Each of equal importance. The first is I can figure out the tooling and process for these challenges and second my client sees EXACTLY what and why they are getting for their money. Thus there is NEVER any dishonesty between client and craftsmen

.  And you know as well as I do,,, just what "shortcuts and mistakes" are hidden behind that finished drywall in conventional construction. One of the few people I worked for as a welder had a personal ethic,, " if the inspectors dont catch it, its good!"

 

 

 

[George N. M.]

In the discussion of honesty and ethics in business and craft I am reminded of the story of a medieval craftsman, a stone carver, who was carving statutes of saints to be installed high in a cathedral.  When he was asked why he was finishing the backs of the statutes as well and as finely as the front when the backs would never be seen once installed he replied, "God would know and I would know."  That kind of philosophy is still pretty common amongst craftspeople.  What is hidden behind the drywall is known to the worker and to God.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

PS Although I never heard him say it I can hear Francis Whittaker's voice saying the words of the medieval craftsman.  Samuel Yellin probably had a similar philosophy.

[rockstar.esq]

I believe I've got another universal job skill that is worthy of our list.

When faced with uncertainty, identify the common guideposts, and proceed through the center without moving the goal posts. Guideposts are defined risks, goal posts are defined rewards.  Things that might happen aren't defined risks or rewards.  The path between guide posts is as wide or as narrow as the individuals fit to the problem at hand.

In the working world, there are a lot of people and things that are commonly seen as impossible to quantify.  Some people will bicker about definitions, others will bicker about ethics or morality, and still more will bicker about relativism.  In many cases, the only point of agreement is to collectively throw their hands up and claim the subject is impossible to quantify.

We've all seen examples of this in forum discussions dissecting uncertain designations like the "good" from the "bad" job, or the "craft" from the "trade". 

These discussions are basically attempting to size up the things that must pass through guideposts of risk, on their way to the goal.  However, the impasse leads some to incorrectly assume that the guideposts of risk will move in response to whatever quantity they choose to apply to themselves.

That's not how nature, or free market economies work.  

There are people who are so focused on uncertainty, that they cannot see an opportunity as a path bounded by visible guideposts leading to their goal.  To them, there is only blind faith that perseverance will provide.  Unless they stumble through the guideposts by luck, they are certain to fail.

Then there are some people who navigate their path by aversion to risk, which charts a path where the reward is always beyond the horizon.  To these people, there is only the constant hustle to outrun the outcome of their decisions.

Finally, there are people who refuse to recognize that there isn't always a path for them through the guideposts, no matter how clearly they see their goal.  If they are too "big" or too "small" in whatever criteria applies to threading the gap in guideposts, they are not going to get through to their goal.  This is the world telling them to find a different path.  

 

[anvil]

On 6/16/2019 at 7:33 PM, George N. M. said:

That kind of philosophy is still pretty common amongst craftspeople.

Very true. I have two examples of that. Many old locks have very cool decoration inside the box, such as springs with animal heds on one end and the tail at the other.

The second was far less dramatic. I had a customer out in the Tarryall's. Whilst waiting for a check, I walked around and pied an old buckboard. The wood box etc was mostly gone and the "running gear" iron was visible. This iron would be normally covered by the wood. I think the part I was looking at was the 5th wheel, and associated parts. The first thing I noticed was that all these hidden parts had chamfered edges. It was a good lesson

Lol, Im sure he did it because he knew someone like me would notice his attention to detail.