The obligations of knowing your stuff.
April 27th, 2011
If you know your shit, you have an obligation to behave that way:
Do – don’t ask.
Say, “I don’t know.”
Wear the clothes you want.
Tread water with Fear until she drowns.
Walk softly – leave your big stick at home.
Ask people what they think – let them teach you.
Kick Consensus in the balls – he certainly deserves it.
Be kind to those who should know – teach, don’t preach.
Hug the bullies – they cannot hurt you, you know too much.
Work with talented new folks – piss and ginger is a winning combination.
In short, use your powers for good – you have an obligation to yourself, your family, and society.
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Mike Shipulski
Mike;
I like it! Do – don’t ask. This should be the engineers motto
Because: “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.”
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (9 December 1906 – 1 January 1992)
quoted in U.S. Navy’s Chips Ahoy magazine (July 1986)
(more on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper)
Doug
Nicely done, sir.
One more: “Honesty isn’t the best policy; it’s the only policy.”
Hmm….I think I like this overall, but it is a mixed bag. The first two bullets could be viewed in opposition to one another: an engineer that follows ”Do – don’t ask” but really “does not know” could make life very difficult on manufacturing, assembly, quality and drive up costs. This is a problem we run in to more often then we need to.
This list works for me, but I don’t expect it to work for everyone. My main goal was to spark a discussion. As for being contradictory, I have found the right behavior in one context is the wrong behavior in another.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Ed.
Good add, Jon.
The list is not complete. I hope others take time to add to it as you did.
Like the rules of conduct you are listing, you forgot the most important:
if you can speak without using profanities, don’t speak at all!
Rafael, this is not the website for you. The content won’t change. Please stop reading and posting. Mike
From Rafael Lopez : Like the rules of conduct you are listing, you forgot the most important:
if you can speak without using profanities, don’t speak at all!
Great list, great responses.
We speak the way we do in order to: get a response, cause an action, make a point, etc.
I would add to the list: “Know your group”. I will often say the same thing in different ways, depending if I am in the “Conference Room” or the “Boiler Room”.
I will keep reading, profanity and all!
I used the word to push on the idea of decorum, consensus, new thinking (innovation), and being provocative for its own sake.
Good point on “Knowing your group.” I wanted to learn about my group by pushing on it a little, and analyzing its response. That’s how I learn. I will have a better understanding of the group (and, different group) after the dust settles.
From Brad:
Great list, great responses.
We speak the way we do in order to: get a response, cause an action, make a point, etc.
I would add to the list: “Know your group”. I will often say the same thing in different ways, depending if I am in the “Conference Room” or the “Boiler Room”.
I will keep reading, profanity and all!
Some suggestions –
– Don’t settle to saying “I don’t know”. Take it one notch up and add “Let’s think about it together”.
Concensus is a HUGE, invisible rock. If you kick it (wherever) you may damage your foot. Do the water thing and flow about it.
You know why had Israelite receive the Torah (bible)? They were the only people among those it was offered to that responded by “we shall do and listen” as opposed to first asking “hey – what is written there?” (naturally, they had learned the lesson since then…)/
And – Rafael – sometimes what you think are profanities are the best tool to clear the cobwebs that clot the cogs.
The more you know, the more you need to teach. Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach. Following this logic means that if you know an awful lot, as I do having been in this business so long, that I get to ‘do’ very little. In order to get things done, I have to teach others. I call it leadership.
If the audience is receptive, the lesson is learned, and I am respected as full of knowledge. If I am unable to teach, respect is gone, and I am accused of being full of shit. This leads to what should be everyone’s goal – ‘Know your shit, but don’t be full of shit!”