All About the Technique

Agustin Gonzalez

Mrs. Glenda Mora

Journal 6

14 Mar. 2018

It’s all about technique

    Angela Duckworth, PhD, in her book entitled Grit, goes on to quote Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, whom said, “whatever it is that you want to do, you’ll find in life that if you’re not passionate about what it is you’re working on, you won’t be able to stick with it.” When it comes to my work on electronics, I have always aimed for near perfect work because I enjoy working on it. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for every individual I have worked with. When I first became a trainer, I received the task of training a co-worker on an engineering prototype the company was developing. At the time I received the task, I was puzzled as I had only been with the company six months and my trainee had already been there for two years. I enjoy helping others though so I did not mind it at all. Only half a day of work had gone by before I heard the first complaint.

    “I can’t do it. I’m not good at soldering,” she said to me while slumping her shoulders.

    “That’s why I’m here to help you. It’s not hard, it’s all about learning the basics and then finding your own technique,” I replied to her.

    After that short exchange, I asked her if I could take over so I can show her how I do it and the different methods I use. Then I could walk her through it as she attempted it afterwards. We did just that and she eventually told me she was comfortable to try it again. After taking an hour or so to solder about 10 minutes worth of work. She stopped to ask me to check her work and tell her what I thought about how she was doing so far.

    “You're getting better but there’s still a lot that you need to work on but like I said once you get your own technique down you’ll be fine,”  I explained to her.

    “Work on? Like what?” She asked with attitude.

    I then proceeded to tell her about every single mistake she was making and what she could do to fix it. When I looked back to see her response I noticed she wasn’t even paying attention to me.

    “I just can’t do it. I hate electronics and I hate soldering,” she said.

    “If you hate electronics and soldering so much, why are you here?” I asked curiously.