Engineers solve problems. Isn’t that what engineering school is all about in the end? Some classes push knowledge. Most of the classes are about solving problems. Most of those involve math.
In this week’s (January 11, 2023) Akimbo podcast entitled More or Less, Seth Godin discusses the paradox of more or less. If we search more on Ecosia, we cause more trees to be planted that will offset the carbon dioxide we pump into the air when we drive to work. As engineers working in manufacturing and production, we are encouraged to help produce more. But also with less waste. We know that some waste, say methane leaks around the facility, also contribute to climate change.
As Seth “rants” on the subject, his logic points toward “better.” Maybe in my life I don’t need more of something or to make do with less of something else. Maybe I need to pursue better. And better is not always more expensive. I like a good wine. Sometimes I’ve had some excellent wines that were very expensive. We like a wine imported from Spain that I buy on sale from my local beverage store for $9.00. It is great with our dinner or for sipping.
Let us consider that concept of better.
Are we solving the better class of problems? Or, maybe just more of the easier problems that might gain us a little recognition? Or, fewer problems because we are “quiet quitting”?
I suggest that we work on the big problems. The problems that matter. The better problems.
And if you are not listening to Seth Godin each week, you are missing stimulation for your brain.
I become a little jaded over all the marketing hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yes, it is an important technology. No, it’s not really all that intelligent, yet. I lost a programmer in my department in 1989 who was going to specialize in AI. Engineers addressed some SME meetings I attended in the 1990s explaining neural networks and motion control.
The average person doesn’t spend much time thinking about the structure of their brain unless it starts causing problems. They don’t wonder what the various folds and valleys do or what it feels like when their neurons fire. Most are content to understand that they have a functioning brain in their head. What happens when you compare your brain to what you might find on a computer? What are neural networks and deep learning and what is the connection between the two?
How to organize my time and improve productivity comprised a false trail to success for me since the time I was introduced to the topic and presented my very own set of DayTimers. I’ve gone the Getting Things Done with David Allen. This blog reflected some of my thinking for a period of time several years ago.
Some of what I learned I’ve used. Much has been discarded. But all was a learning experience. Recently I ran across Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman and subsequently subscribed to his newsletter, The Imperfectionist. A recent issue passed along this thought:
The Zen teacher Kosho Uchiyama once wrote: “Life completely unhindered by anything manifests as pure activity.” Orient yourself to the world in this way, and the question is no longer “How can I get myself to do things?”, with its implicit and unwelcome answer: “By putting in more effort, you lazy jerk!” Instead, the question is something a bit more like “What’s seeking to be done through me, right now?” And then, whatever the response, all you really have to do is to allow it to happen.
Have you experienced bosses who prized activity over results? I have. Drove me crazy.
Break up your day. Figure out the best times for different tasks. Find a way to devote about three hours to that “what is seeking to be done through me” task. Break. Block off a shorter period of time for discrete tasks—email, meetings, calls. Another shorter period for “urgent” to-dos.
My Yoga training has conditioned me to “go with the flow.” Find that thing seeking to be done through me and go with the flow. Accomplish meaningful work.
I have an iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air. I could not have accomplished all the soccer referee administrative work I’ve done without these digital devices and the internet. I began with the digital world in manufacturing in 1976. It became a career. I’ve earned a lot of money due to digital.
Yet…
An early adopter of Twitter, I’ve all but quit using it–long before the current controversies. Facebook was a way to connect to cousins and other family I never got to see. But the message streams became so toxic that I only check it to wish people I know a happy birthday.
The “real” world is analog. This usually relates to getting signals (electrical) from the real world. There is no intermediary transformation of analog to digital.
David Sax reflected upon his experiences during the lockdown phases of the pandemic. If you recall, digital became a lifeline. Zoom for meetings or school. FaceTime for communication. Email, Facebook, Twitter, messaging. It all became digital. And digital became toxic.
Sax published his reflections in The Future Is Analog: How to Create a More Human World. Were I an editor or book reviewer, I’d pick at his style or writing. But as someone interested in spiritual formation, I recommend the book. It should open your eyes to the digital desert we’ve wandered into. It shows a way out.
Analog.
Remember baking sourdough bread? Walks in the park? Playing games? Talking with people outside socially spaced to limit the spread of germs?
I still use digital as a tool without which I could not do many of the things I want to do.
And unfortunately, I’ve moved and no longer have communities of Yoga, soccer, and church. But I get outside. See a few people at the fitness center. Meditate. Read real books. Get away from digital.
I missed a day here yesterday. I had an outpatient procedure that necessitated leaving home about 5:30 am. I blamed the condition on past workplace stress. More likely it was hereditary.
Glad to report that the operation was successful. By the time I got home yesterday early afternoon, my LiveWell app had been updated with all the blood test results, the results of the procedure, and the surgeon’s notes and commentary. Crazy good. This sort of technology and follow up would be fantastic for service calls in my other job relative to manufacturing. Or even the service person who comes to your house. There’s the good side of technology when it’s a servant. Then there’s the bad side (Twitter, Facebook, etc.).
This morning at 5:30 felt good. Back in the saddle.
You can’t think well without writing well, and you can’t write well without reading well. And I mean that last “well” in both senses. You have to be good at reading, and read good things. By “good at reading” I don’t mean good at the mechanics of reading. You don’t have to be good at extracting words from the page so much as extracting meaning from the words.
Most people I read consider writing as part of thinking. To me, it’s core to education. They need to do more of it at least from middle school through grad school. I often begin with an idea that came from observation or reading then begin to write. Bless computers—it’s easier to backspace and begin again than cross out and re-write.
Writing’s a practice. Read, observe, think. Begin to write. As you sort out your thoughts, you’ll find new wisdom percolating. You might even change your mind on some things through thinking rather than reacting. I know I have. Even (especially?) through somewhat critical comments.
Wallace began with the common advice that college’s role is to teach you to think. The real point, he said, is knowing what to think about. Even more, to become aware of what surrounds you.
You’re tired and grumpy after work. Then you realize you are out of food at home and must go to the supermarket. It’s rush hour. Someone in a gas-hog SUV drives aggressively trying to pass everyone. You arrive at the store. You manage to find what you need. The check out line is long. There’s an overly made-up chubby woman screaming at her kid. The cashier says have a good day with the voice of death.
You think–perhaps that SUV was driven by a dad trying to get a sick kid to the hospital. Perhaps the woman at the store was tired after nursing a husband sick at home with cancer. Perhaps the cashier is caught in a dead-end job with many pressures at home.
Perhaps we don’t see the “water” around us. Perhaps we blame other people for things when we don’t understand their problem. Perhaps we think people are purposely out to get us when in reality they are just trying to get by. Just like us.
Perhaps by seeing the water, we can live a more compassionate life. And that would be good.
