Dear Friends,
This weekend I did some work for a company called Simphonics. My job was to build twelve identical desktop computers for a project, all of which contained their proprietary card, the SMX Whizbang 2000, or whatever. The man who was showing me how they wanted the systems assembled obviously knew far less about computers than I did. He did everything slowly and didn't really understand why he did the things he did. He kept giving me "pointers," some of which were misguided and all of which were superfluous.
On top of which, he had no sense of humor. Imagine trying to ease your stress level by telling a joke, only to be met by a blank face which was colored, if at all, only with vague irritation. In two days of working with him--eighteen and half hours, in total--I never saw him laugh once. There's something very peculiar about that.
About six hours into the first day, after he had nitpicked about a million times, I had a revelation. If I was so good at system building and he was so bad, then why did he keep finding things to criticize? There was obviously something that he wanted from me, and proving my superiority was getting in the way of proving my competence. I switched gears right away.
I started routing wires the way he wanted them. I assembled in the order that he wanted it to be assembled. I made a "V" shape with three cable hooks. I refrained from telling jokes and instead let him talk. About... something. I don't remember. But I did what he asked.
And here's the interesting thing: I learned a lot. Doing things a different way taught me some new tricks. Most curious of all, when I finished a system and he commended me, I felt really good about my work.
I have an artist's snobbery. I want to do things my way, and I generally feel that my way is better than most other ways. And yet, every time that I explore another path, it ends up being far more rewarding than if I had insisted on having my own way. Now, I think I've come one step closer to being a better worker for anyone I ever work for. Which, I think, is worth a few hours of irritation.
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See pictures of Leslie, Roxie, and my new house. (Look for the album labeled "Florida.")
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You can contact me by replying to this e-mail. To send letters or packages, use the following address:
Dan Kaschel
2011 Oakwood Ave
Tampa, FL 33605
My phone number is 231-631-3016.
That's it! Shalom,
Dan
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