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Page 4
His practical experience was certainly learned under difficulties
which I trust none of you may experience. This statement is made that
those of you who have not yet obtained positions may not envy those
who have, and that each and all of you may be careful not to take a
position so far above your experience, if not your capacity, as to
become unpleasantly situated in the beginning. The educational
facilities you have enjoyed are of such great value in some
exceptional cases that the parties thus benefited may do you an injury
by leading others to expect that you will be equally valuable in
performing duties which require much more practical experience and
knowledge of detail than it is possible that you could have obtained
in the time you have been here.
The incident is ripe with suggestions. No matter how humble a position
you may take in the beginning, you will be embarrassed in much the
same way as the young gentleman in question, though it is hoped in a
less degree. Your course of action should be first to learn to do as
you are told, no matter what you think of it. And above everything
keep your eyes and ears open to obtain practical knowledge of all that
is going on about you. Let nothing escape you of an engineering
nature, though it has connection with the business in hand. It may be
your business the next day, and if you have taken advantage of the
various opportunities to know all about that particular matter in
every detail, you can intelligently act in relation to it, without
embarrassment to yourself and with satisfaction to your superior.
Above all, avoid conflict with the practical force of the
establishment into which you are introduced. It is better, as we have
at another time advised, to establish friendly relations with the
workmen and practical men with whom you have to do.
You are to be spared this evening any direct references to the
"conceit of learning," but you are asked and advised to bear with the
_conceit of ignorance_. You will find that practical men will be
jealous of you on account of your opportunities, and at the same time
jealous of their own practical information and experience, and that
they may take some pains to hinder rather than aid you in your
attempts to actively learn the practical details of the business. The
most disagreeable man about the establishment to persons like you, who
perhaps goes out of his way to insult you, and yet should be respected
for his age, may be one who can be of greatest use to you. Cultivate
his acquaintance. A kind word will generally be the best response to
an offensive remark, though gentlemanly words of resentment may be
necessary when others are present. Sometimes it will be sufficient to
say, "I wish a little talk with you by yourself," which will put the
bystanders at a distance and enable you to mature your plans.
Ascertain as soon as possible that man's tastes; what he reads and
what he delights in. Approach him as if you had no resentment and talk
on his favorite topic. If rebuffed, tell a pleasant story, and persist
from time to time in the attempt to please, until his hardened nature
relaxes and he begins to feel and perhaps speaks to others favorably
of you. St. Paul has said: "For though I be free from all men, yet
have I made myself servant of all that I might gain the more." This is
the keynote of policy, and though in humbling yourself you control and
hide your true feelings, recollect that all your faculties are given
you for proper use.
We have referred to some who have acquired the happy faculty of making
themselves immediately useful. This is a much more difficult matter
than the words imply. If one of you should be so fortunate as to be
ordered to make certain tests almost like those you have already
conducted here, or to tabulate the results of tests as you have done
it here, or to make inspections akin to those which have been fully
explained here, there is every probability the work would be done
satisfactorily in the first instance. But let a much _simpler_ case
arise, for instance, if a superior hand one of you a letter with the
simple instructions, "Get me the facts on that," you may be very much
puzzled to know what is to be done and how to do it. It may be that
the letter is a request for information in regard to certain work that
was carried on in the past, in which case it will be necessary for you
to hunt through old records, copy books, engineering notes, drawings,
and the like, and get a list of all referring to the subject; to make
an abstract of the letters and notes if they are at all complicated;
and finally to lay the whole before the overworked superior in a
business manner, that he largely from recollection, aided by the
references and notes, can write an intelligent answer in a very brief
period. The way not to do it would be to say, "Yes, sir," very
promptly, go off and not more than half read the letter, do something
and be back in five minutes with some question or ill-digested answer;
then upon receiving a polite hint as to the method to be employed, go
off and repeat the operation the next five minutes; then on receiving
a short reply, in what appeared to be an unnecessary tone of voice,
get a little flurried perhaps, do worse next time, and in the end feel
very unpleasant without having accomplished much, and make the
gentleman seeking assistance lament the difficulty in teaching young
men practical work.
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