Option 1: Free Write/Directed Writing
At first I didn't really think I could write about anything that was related to communication in engineering, but then I remembered a time when I went with my brother in law to work. He works for the city of Beloit, which is just north of my hometown, as a Civil Engineer. Throughout the day I learned many things, but I guess one of the biggest things that I didn't even observe at the time would be a miscommunication and mix up caused by a thing as simple as not knowing the definition of a word. At the time there was a road that was being torn up to be redone, and everyone was surprised when there was concrete underneath of the asphalt. This caused several things to be rescheduled, money needing to be allocated to take out the concrete, and various other problems. While it was being discussed in the office, one guy came forward and said something along the lines of "Oh, of course there was concrete underneath. That's what sheet asphalt is." This was being discussed previously as well, and he never spoke up. I think that he thought he was being the smart, knowledgeable guy by speaking up right then, but from my point of view it was entirely the opposite. If he would have spoke up earlier, no one would have been surprised by the outcome, and there wouldn't have been any trouble getting the project done on time. Of course now everyone knows what sheet asphalt is, and this will help in the future, but it was a stupid thing to not speak up sooner.
In short, problems are caused daily when people just don't speak up at the right time. If you know what something is, and no one else does, don't withhold the information thinking it makes you more of an asset. It doesn't; sometimes it even makes you a liability. I'm sure people have been fired over things like that.
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say Beloit, do you mean in Wisconsin? If so, I live right around there, too!
Anyways, great example for applying how something as simple as one idea (in this case, sheet asphalt) can lead to a big fiasco later on if someone doesn't decide to speak up. Maybe he just assumed that everyone knew what it was or maybe he didn't feel like it was his place to speak up. Either way, withholding that information from the others was a bad idea. In any sort of engineering setting, communication is key. That is certainly the case here. All it would've taken was a quick email or remark earlier on to solve this large problem.
Perhaps if he had taken our class when he was in college, Beloit would have some better roads by now ;-)
- Josh Holat
I loved your example, we see people like this every day, especially in classes. I don't know how many times I've been in a class where a teacher has to ask several times, between several awkward silences, to get answers to very simple questions because people are afraid to communicate. Unfortunately this apathetic take on things isn't going to change any time soon. It's human nature to put in minimal effort and while it can be helped by awareness initiatives such as this class, it is always something that we will have to tolerate.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, fortunately we can be part of the solution and not the problem given our awareness of how crucial communication is to both corporate and personal success. So keep speaking up!
I think you have a very good point in that communication is not all about saying or asking the right thing, it's also about doing it at the right time because people might not know what you know and people might find themselves running in to concrete suprisingly.
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