Day #32 Month #2 ... It's Called Work Because It's Not Fun

The Early Days

After some time spent at the trigger end of an M-60 in the late 1960s my first full-time job appeared.  Starting as a production monkey in the fabrication shop of the Universal Milking Machine Company I rose quickly from the ranks of those doing 'piece work' on the drill presses, turret lathes, shears, power brakes and punch presses to being a 'setup man.'  It was a relief to avoid the 1000 piece per hour days at all of those limb and digit consumers.  Actually they just severed, lacerated and smashed things.  Even if you kept your parts out of the works they did make you deaf.

This became my first 'management' job.  While I was not in a hire/fire role I did direct the activities of those 'on the line,' making sure that adequate parts were in place, that breaks were followed and ensured that the machines were set up correctly and I constantly measured the accuracy of the products.  That was not simple in that chaos.

This was one of the measurement tools that I used.  Purchased in 1969 I believe it cost $2.  After five years at that gig I've kept it in my desk to remind myself to always keep my parts out of the works when the works are dangerous.

The factory workers were a complete range of single and married people, some there for the duration, some there just long enough, some with hope and others with nothing but the vodka in their coffee.  Finding a common ground with each of them, each of them with different needs in that chaos taught me a great deal.

The output of your work, it's value is determined by it's correctness and it's quality.  You cannot do all the work yourself and actually you  cannot do much at all.  You become a coach.  Your people do the work with your coaching and mentoring and you give them all the credit.

A Flash Of 1973...
After the Milking Machine venture I ended up at the University of Minnesota as a sophomore, perhaps a junior.  One of my first courses was "The Sociology of Work" taught by a young professor, Dick Hall.  It was great.  Of course most of the people in the class had not spent any time with an M-60 and they certainly had not had five years of turret lathe tedium.  I had really worked.  I got it.  Today people might say that it resonated.  Having spent all that time in a factory I knew that work was much more a 'din.'  Dick Hall knew that, too, and spoke to the nature of work for both blue color and white color environments.

His influence made me a better manager and there many unstated references and a few direct quotes of him throughout my succeeding tenures as a manager.  My favorite remains "...they call it work because it's not fun..."

It can be fun and it can be creative.  That's next.