Lousy Day
Today started on a bad note, and it didn't get much better. During a meeting at work, we were having a discussion about the proper way to technically implement a project. One of the team members took my technical arguments very personally, and responded by personally attacking me. Of course, since I have to work with this person, I pretty much just tuned out of the rest of the meeting, so that I didn't respond with personal attacks myself. You can just imagine what I wanted to tell this individual, but didn't.
Still, the experience got me thinking. Suppose a manufacturing company told its employees that a new computer-controlled laser drill could help them drill faster and more accurately. Would the employees appreciate the facts that they could build better products, spend less time on each one, and suffer less negative impacts such as carpal tunnel syndrome? Or would they perceive the new tool as management saying that their current craftsmanship and productivity were poor? I'm guessing that the second situation happens more often than we think, and it's a wonder that this country manages to innovate at all.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." I think he should have said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will come to your door and beat you."
Still, the experience got me thinking. Suppose a manufacturing company told its employees that a new computer-controlled laser drill could help them drill faster and more accurately. Would the employees appreciate the facts that they could build better products, spend less time on each one, and suffer less negative impacts such as carpal tunnel syndrome? Or would they perceive the new tool as management saying that their current craftsmanship and productivity were poor? I'm guessing that the second situation happens more often than we think, and it's a wonder that this country manages to innovate at all.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." I think he should have said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will come to your door and beat you."
posted by David at 10/12/2005 08:30:00 PM
1 Comments:
The thing about building a better mouse trap is that those who have invested fortunes (or their personal reputations) in the old model are not likely to be the new adopters - they stand to lose something by the nifty new gadget's deployment or acceptance. You are an excellent engineer, David and have contributed quite a bit to your customers' successes. Don't let the petty insecurities of team members bring you down.
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