Dear Jeff
Schmidt,
I am
grateful that you wrote Disciplined Minds. I must admit that I had always held higher education in greater
esteem than it deserved, naively believing that “professionals” held themselves
to higher standards. I was just
brainwashed. Your book was a breath of
fresh air, and it was timely: With our
culture becoming ever more technologically complex, the last thing we need is
for the technical experts and the everyday users of the technology to not think
clearly and critically. People need to
be taught to be skeptical, to be street-smart in the area of the politics of
work, and your book is a good start in that direction.
What I think
I observed in your book was the tragedy of the betrayal of the educational
system toward those who love — that’s the appropriate word, love — the science
and math they discovered. The system
seems to be seriously flawed when the awe and wonder that science and math can
inspire are shunted aside only for the purpose of performing a job. The killing of that passion is not right. It’s like cutting down a grove of mature
fruit trees just for the firewood.
Those trees produce not just seasonal fruit year after year, but they
provide a welcome reminder of the seasons, food and cover for wildlife, places
for children to climb, summer shade, and that intangible that makes us stop and
stare — sheer beauty.
To this day
I wish I could find a job where I could use the trigonometry and calculus that
I worked so hard to master when I took night classes at the local community
college over ten years ago. It was a
struggle; math doesn’t come easy for me, but I have always enjoyed it, always
felt a sense of amazement at its power to solve problems. I took four terms of calculus, earning A’s
and very much enjoying the discovery process.
I had a dream of being an engineer, but gave that up because of the
responsibilities of a job and a marriage and helping to raise three daughters.
One of the
insights I gained was that our school system arbitrarily sets us up to learn
when we may not be ready. Maybe my
experience was unique, but it seems that my brain was more amenable to learning
math when I was in my mid-thirties than when I was in my teens. In high school I really struggled, and
earned only average grades. As a result
I thought of myself as mediocre in math.
When I gathered the courage to try again 20 years later, I was just a
lot better at it. Certainly I had more
discipline, and I wasn’t at the mercy of my glands as much, but it still seems
that I was just at a better place in my life to learn. There were times when I would be working on
a calculus problem at the kitchen table, and I would ecstatically shout to my
wife my thrill at finally understanding a concept, or solving a difficult
problem.
As a water
plant operator, I taught math classes for a time to other water works
employees, and it was a fulfilling experience to see the understanding dawn in the
faces of the (mostly) men, who had always been afraid of math. Were there just a lot of poor math teachers,
or were they introduced to it at the wrong time of their lives? I don’t want to rag on the school system; I
know the teachers are often facing too-large classes, and contending with discipline
problems and administrative details that preclude effective teaching. But I just wonder if there isn’t a better
way.
Well, time
to end this long ramble. I have to get
up in the morning to interview for a job at a new, state-of-the-art water
treatment plant. I’m highly qualified
and I’m feeling hopeful, but I know that despite having adequate credentials
and considerable experience, the politics could derail my chances. My general plan is to listen for the fears
behind the questions, then offer reassurance.
Wish me luck. I will continue to
recommend your book to my friends.
Name
Withheld
-------------------------
[Note from
the same writer to Charles Hayes, publisher of the on-line Self-University
Newsletter, which reviewed Disciplined Minds]
Dear Mr.
Hayes,
A few months
ago I changed my ISP and forgot to notify your provider. I was missing the newsletter until I
remembered my slip, and I just corrected that.
I enjoyed reading the fall 2001 newsletter.
It just so
happens that I finally got around to reading Jeff Schmidt’s book, Disciplined
Minds. More than any book in a very
long time it had a profound impact on me.
It significantly changed — and is changing still — my view of the world
of work and of the corporate structures that I encounter.
I am not a “professional.” I worked as a water filtration plant
operator at a small utility for 18 years, then quit over a combination of wage
dispute and burnout. I returned to
school to earn a two-year degree in engineering technology. That whole experience was an education in
itself; it was good for me, at age 48, to go back to school where I found that
in some ways I was a better student than I was 30 years before. I did well in the technical classes, even
winning a scholarship.
I had a lot
of anxiety when I quit my job, worrying about losing our house etc. But my wife and I did just fine, and my three
daughters, who struggled to work their own way through college, were proud of
me.
During
school it felt like a sabbatical, and I realized that it was just a very
welcome break from the sameness of a no-longer-interesting job. I wish that more workers could get out of
their routine for such a restorative break.
My job
caused me so much anxiety that I was seeing a psychiatrist. After I quit I visited him one last
time. His comment, after staring off
into space for a time, was, “I think...that if more people did what you just
did...there would be far fewer divorces in this country.” He could be right; I see many people
determined to stay in their jobs “for the security” even when their physical
and mental health and their important relationships are deteriorating.
After school
I found a job with a small engineering firm.
It had a very strong corporate mentality, and during the two years I was
there I was in a near-constant state of anxiety. I felt that I had conflicting direction depending upon which
project engineer I was working for. I
had naively concluded that all decisions would be based upon nothing less than
sound scientific engineering principles.
I was frustrated and confused that decisions at times seemed arbitrary
or conflicted with previous direction.
I became painfully aware that as “just a technician” I was treated
differently than the professional engineers.
I saw some of the young engineers become slowly less friendly and more
distant and arrogant. The company
principals were highly intelligent, but also some of the most manipulative people
I had ever met in my life.
After two
years and one month I got laid off, along with three others. I was actually relieved. I am receiving unemployment benefits and
looking for other work. Since then I
read Disciplined Minds, and “the light went on” regarding some of the
experiences I had had at work. Things
just make more sense now, and I realize just how politicized the consulting
engineering process is.
I have
always been an avid reader, and I fully agree with the Self-University idea
that our education is up to us as individuals.
I very much enjoy reading the newsletter, and it is a good source of ideas
for continued reading. Keep it up.
Name
Withheld