Feedback - is this too harsh

[excludingpauli.livejournal.com]

Background:  I am teaching an engineering class at a local college this semester and yesterday I asked a question (this is to senior computer engineers taking an elective "General engineering for CE/EE") that required converting "pounds to kilos."  The response was - why would we know that - we have calculators and memorization is silly.

Here is my response - from my own career:

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Career Limiting Moves

When I worked for a large engineering and construction firm, the process engineers (of which I was one) had a term for an action an engineer would take which would have an immediate and negative impact on his or her career.  The acronym we used to describe these actions was CLMs, which was pronounced clemz.  CLMs stood for “career limiting moves.”

Appreciate the power of the clem on your career path.

Use in a sentence: “He said THAT to his BOSS!!!  What a clem!”

Provide an example:  While working at this engineering and construction firm, I had occasion to visit a senior process engineer because I needed some information from him to size an equipment item.  When I walked into his office, I noticed that his eyes were literally bulging outside of their sockets and his face was an uncomfortable shade of bluish red.  I said, “Is something wrong?”  He said, “I gave a new engineer written instructions on how to access and use the material balance program* and told him to size some equipment.  You know what I got back?!” I said, “Sized equipment?” He said, “NOOOOOOOOO!!  I got this NOTE: ‘I couldn’t get the program to work. Either write better instructions or do it yourself.’  CAN YOU F—KING BELIEVE THIS?!!!!!!!**”  Then in a rather ominous tone he said,” As god is my witness, this kid will not make it through the year.”  True to his word, this new engineer left the company in under six months—I believe it was actually four months.  Was he fired? No.  He was just given work. Lots and lots of work.  Lots and lots of work--and no support. He started to miss deadlines—this drew the attention of other engineers who needed his work to do their work.  So they started calling him and visiting him--and complaining to him—sometimes really loudly--all while more work was moving in his direction.  Time to find a new job.

Quiz: Can you recognize clemz?

Scenario: You, newbie engineer, are in a meeting with your immediate boss (an engineer in her forties) and two members of your client’s project team at the client’s offices.  One client representative is a US engineer in his sixties; the other client representative is a European facility manager in his forties.  Your boss is going over a plot plan for a central office expansion. She mentions that the concrete pad for one of the equipment items is 40 feet by 50 feet.  The European manager asks, ”What is that in square meters?”  You see your boss’s head slowly swiveling in your direction, and you suddenly realize your calculator is on your office desk. Your boss turns to you and says, “What is it?” At this point, everyone has turned toward you, and they are waiting expectantly for your answer.  You still have said nothing. You note that your boss’s eyes are starting to narrow and the tips of her ears are starting to turn pink—an odd physical characteristic that you have learned means she is really getting PO’d. You have to speak.

When you open your mouth, which of the following is not a clem?

·         “I’m special and have always felt units conversions are beneath me.”

·         “If it’s squared, that means it’s an area, right?

·         “What do I look like—freakin’ Einstein?

·         “Hey, I am an (SCHOOL NAME) grad—if you want actual numbers, ask an MIT geek.”

·         “Ask the old dude—they used to have to memorize crap like that. YO!—old dude, show us your slide rule”

·         “I think it is probably a big number.”

·         “I think it is probably a small number.”

·         “Bigger than a breadbox.  Oh wait—a  breadbox would be a volume, right?

·         “Yeah, you keep giving me that look, bitch, and I’ll knock you out!”

·         “Are there logs involved? I don’t do logs.”

·         “It’ll take me a half-hour to drive back to the office and get my calculator.  What’s your cell phone number?  I’ll call you as soon as I figure it out.”

·         “Can I call in a lifeline?”

·         “HEY!  What’s that that just went by the window?!!!! I think someone jumped!”

·         “I have to go the bathroom.”

·         “I do not think unannounced quizzes are fair. I feel disappointed.”

·         “My religious beliefs prevent me from proselytizing. I have taken a solemn oath never to try to convert a unit.”

·         “Do you have an Internet connection?  There are lots of unit conversion programs on the web.”

·         “So how is the weather In Europe anyway?”

·         “Yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a mystery—but this moment is a gift, and that’s why they call it the present. Okay, everyone—let’s hold hands and sing kumbayya.”

·         “It’s approximately 180 square meters.”

Calculators are great tools—but that’s all they are.  They are not a substitute for your ability to do simple math in your head—or on the back of an envelope. Units are the part of the vocabulary of your profession, and they should come to you as easily as words do. Learn the basic unit conversions.

*Yes, there are programs to do these calculations, but you need to know what they are doing.

**Harsh language was a common part of the creative process at this particular firm.

Comments

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

It's brilliant. It's real life. And, the sooner they know it, the better.

It also reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me that a student in his Graphic Design course could not find the center of an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper so that they could rule crop marks for a #10 envelope. Sounds complicated, but it's really just basic math. Not surprisingly, she failed that course and eventually flunked out.

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

hey hey, slow down there!!! you had me at "hello".

seriously, I agree with you on this one - if your work involves spatial stuff then it'd be a good idea to at least ballpark conversions in your head - an alternate answer would be "approximately..." based on the formula. I can understand that some people might not be able to multiply in their head, but knowing the formulas is pretty necessary.

(on the other hand - that thingie you got strapped to your belt? with all the pretty buttons on it and the glowing screen? yeah, your blackberry/palm/iphone should be able to provide an answer to that question. hell, there was even a conversion program for the Sidekick!)

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

our whole system of government/economy is dependent upon the fact that most people can't think.

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

I don't see how that's going to happen with the organizations whose job it is to teach people to think in the pockets of those who don't want us to think.

Unless some bright boy/girl starts up a grassroots campaign to get people to think. :D

[argonel.livejournal.com]

Is it a little sad that I checked your ballpark answer in my head? Although if I was asked the question directly my answer would be "Just a moment.(Scribble scribble) between 180 and 190 square meters" If you don't bring note paper to a meeting you don't deserve your job.

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

HUZZAH!

This sort of clouded thinking is why I always hit folks over the head who tell me "but I use the spell checker on my computer!"

You cannot spell check, math-check, even FACT-check LIFE!

know it yourself!

[fnordx.livejournal.com]

That's true, but I've learned how to spell more words correctly due to spellcheck now that I'm older, and so I'm using it less and less.

But, again, if you're unable to learn at all, a tool won't teach you much.

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

A bumper stick I once had:

Critical thought. It's the OTHER national debt.

[ace-brickman.livejournal.com]

*refrains from getting into a political rant


reeeally really trying not to!

[hisamishness.livejournal.com]

A much superior was of saying "You'd better pull your 'special' little head out of your 'special' little posterior now, before your Boss do it for you."

[kayfox.livejournal.com]

Did anyone else immediately try to calculate that in their head?

Nice to know I can do it... but if I were in such a situation, I would have brought documentation converted into metric already, or wrote the documentation with both measurements.

[goose-entity.livejournal.com]

Rated B+/A-, would read rant again.

;)

[tecknow.livejournal.com]

Woah, hold on there!
Calculus rots your brain, I wouldn't trust any engineer to do math of any kind in their head, and I'd hate to meet someone who would believe any mental math answer form me.

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

That's one approach but it doesn't work so well in this instance. If it were folded, parts of the item would be out of focus when they would go to shoot films for press–it has to be kept flat to keep the entire board in focus.

[fallconsmate.livejournal.com]

TheEngineer (the fiance) is a brilliant man. i asked him how far a light year was (we were watching something about the hubble telescope) and he TOLD me, starting out with "this far per second". and did the math.

he cant spell the word "else's". (i can, i just dont care for apostrophes or for capitalization.) he's going to like your rant. (he doesnt livejournal)

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

lmao, love your icon :D

[doctoreon.livejournal.com]

Not bad, but I would have been much harsher. You should hear what I used to say to my student workers.

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

I would have tried the folding thing then run the paper across a table edge a few times - that kills the fold and leaves the lines.

(or she coulda used a friggin ruler!!!)

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

One other important tidbit that I didn't relay. He found her nearly at the point of tears trying to figure this out. It just boggles the mind.

[yanni85.livejournal.com]

Ditto. It's not something I ever use and I still feel like I should remember the approximate conversion. Dealing with this stuff as part of your job and not knowing? Rediculous.

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

You'd still likely have shadows from the not-quite-still-a-fold in the film, and that extra time in pre-press winds up costing money to fix.

Rulers? But...but..TehMathz™. Itz hardz.

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

see my icon ;D

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

*hearty laughs*
<3

[salavora.livejournal.com]

Nice one!

I have to admit, I would have said: Not a clue, all over europe we only use meters and no feet, I never learned how to convert.
But then again, in a job, where this comes up regulary? You have to know!
It's as if I was asked to change a "do-while loop" into a "for loop" and would say "bugger off, the do-while does it good enough so I never learned how to do a for" (I am a programmer ^^)

I really love this one *g*

[mouse-from-marz.livejournal.com]

yeah :D it's what I would have done if I couldn't be arsed to remember the formulas. And if it's something simple like tip calculation or multiplication or multiple sums every cell phone out there today comes with a calculator built in.

boyfriend and I were talking about this this afternoon and we find ourselves wondering - what happened to the slide rule???