The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Renew Old Skills and Create Your Own Opportunities – A Very Personal Note from The Kneeslider

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The KneesliderYou might have noticed the many articles on old skills like casting metal I’ve been writing recently and other articles encouraging you to become more hands on, getting some tools and learning to work on your own motorcycle, whether a simple maintenance checkup or more involved mechanical or electrical repairs, and you may be wondering where I’m going with all of this. Well, it’s connected to the continuing decline in the number of young people who can do any of these things as well as a startling loss of the “can do” attitude. Right now, there is work to be done and jobs available for people with all sorts of manual, hands on skills and no one to do the work.

In my area of the country, what’s been called the “rust belt,” there are manufacturing companies with openings for qualified welders and machinists, there isn’t much call for unskilled manual labor, it’s the guy who can actually do something, run a CNC machine, do high quality welding, install, maintain and repair all sorts of complex equipment, but what we have are lots of people with degrees in Peruvian pottery or its intellectual equivalent.

The most common complaint I hear from anyone looking for employees right now is that applicants, when you sift through the resumes, lack basic skills, let alone a real capacity and willingness to do the work. The serious manual skills, the kinds of things you used to learn the basics of in shop class or a trade school, have disappeared. Jobs we’ve been exporting because everyone here was going to magically transform into some sort of high level knowledge worker, along with a concerted push for universal college degrees, have made an absolute mess of what used to be a strenuous, but well worn road, to satisfying work and a decent income. A fact slowly and grudgingly being recognized is not everyone should go to college or is suited for college, but those same people are superb candidates to learn the skills for the exact positions now going begging.

Knowing about and knowing how are two very different sorts of knowledge and we have far too much of the first while the second has been almost totally abandoned. It is time to renew these skills, to bring young people back into the hands on world, to stop them from desiring only the clean, easy knowledge work where they will supposedly direct those “below” them and instead reconnect them to the concept of doing something where the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is available every day, where you can see what you have done and where people really need you to be there.

People my age, in many companies have begun retiring or will be in the next five or ten years and there’s no one to replace the skill that will walk out the door when they do. When the skills are lost, it’s hard to bring it back. Industries where the US used to be strong have been lost and when someone tries to reestablish them, they find it almost impossible because there’s no pool of talent to draw from.

If you have a skill you can pass on to someone younger than you, make every effort to do so. If there is someone that shows any interest, try to blow that spark into a flame. If you’re young, think of the sense of achievement you’ll feel as you actually build something and develop those skills. You’ll also learn a little secret, people need you when you can do something. You won’t be wondering how to earn a paycheck, you’ll be able to find work when you want. Yes, … really.

Now, here’s the most important takeaway from all of this and it goes beyond renewing skills. In the previous post about building your own charcoal foundry, there’s a process where you use basic hand tools, some lumber, charcoal, a hair dryer and other odds and ends to create everything necessary to melt scrap metal and cast it into carefully shaped and designed pieces that will, in turn, be used to build a lathe. Continuing this process, after building the metal lathe, it’s used to build more machine tools. Think about that. You have taken a whole pile of scrap pieces and odds and ends plus basic tools and literally created “capital,” wealth, something that can be used to then build and create more tools, more capital, you can create more wealth, from practically nothing! It doesn’t grow on its own, you make it by combining knowledge and skill and effort and determination to make something that would not exist unless you decided to make it. You create a huge increase in the value of what you have to work with by applying your mind to the tools and materials at hand. OUR WHOLE COUNTRY WAS BUILT THAT WAY! These manual skills that are drifting away and the mindset of using them in productive and creative ways needs to be renewed, and yes, I am fired up about this because it pains me to see so many people complaining about everything, of how little they have, while failing to see or act upon the opportunities they can create for themselves to improve their own lot.

Skills can be learned and wealth can be created, from practically nothing. You don’t need permission to learn, just desire and determination. You don’t need a college degree to create wealth, you need skills, hard work and a positive attitude.

A few days ago on New Years Day, I sent out a newsletter to everyone who has subscribed, titled “Let’s Get Started!” In it, I asked everyone to make this year, 2012, the year to do it, whatever plans and dreams you might have, just do it. For those of you who didn’t receive it, I think it’s important enough I’m including most of it below:

2012 is here. What are your plans? …

Whatever your dream, mastering new skills, tackling a project that’s been in the back of your mind for awhile or even if you just want to get your old bike back on the road, this is the year to do it. Sure, there are lots of reasons to wait, until things get better, until the economy is booming, until after the election, until …, until …, or you can just get started now.

You already know you’re going to hear about a lot of people working on their dreams, starting new companies and moving ahead, even in this economy. They’ll accomplish a lot and you can be one of them. You can wait or you can work. On The Kneeslider, we write about the ones who get to work. I can’t wait to see the results; I know I’ll be surprised and inspired, you probably will be, too.

This year, I’m going to stay in closer touch with all of you through these emails. You see, I think this year is going to be absolutely great and I want to make sure you hear about it. In a way, I have an unfair advantage; I’ve been getting emails from builders telling me about projects under way so I can see they aren’t sitting around waiting for the world to change, I already know about cool things in the pipeline you’ll be seeing later this year. I get charged up just thinking about it. Wouldn’t you rather be in that productive and creative group than sitting around waiting? Don’t let the bad news fool you. There are a lot of good things already happening!

This sluggish economy is a huge opportunity; you just have to look at it with different eyes. Be a problem solver. Learn new things, try new things, be one of the success stories and above all, be positive. A negative, critical attitude is your enemy, it keeps you from seeing the enormous possibilities, it makes obstacles look bigger and creates excuses. Don’t be “that guy.” Be positive and aware, look for ways to do things better and then do them. Start today, whenever you look at what someone is doing, pick out the good points instead of trying to find flaws. If you catch yourself saying “somebody should,” start saying “I will.” It’s all attitude.

If this entire post sounds like it’s written with passion and emotion, it is, probably more than has ever appeared in any post on The Kneeslider. Some of you may already feel the way I do, but I believe every one of us can do so much more and waiting for some perfect alignment of the planets with an economy humming along and everyone in good spirits before getting started will keep you from ever accomplishing anything at all.

None of us needs to be “given” an opportunity to do something great, each one of us can create our own opportunities. The skills and attitude that built this country can be renewed, the opportunities for each of us to get to work are already here, you just have to start.

If you have skills you can teach to someone younger, create an opportunity to do just that and begin. If you want to learn more skills, start learning. If you have a dream, begin working on it today. Right now is the time.

Join me in making this year the best year ever. It will make your life and the life of everyone around you better. I think that’s a goal worth pursuing.

One final note: I will be saying much more along these lines in upcoming newsletters with ideas, projects and other material that will not appear on The Kneeslider. If you want to be a part of it and you haven’t already subscribed, just enter your name and email in the form over in the sidebar and click “sign me up!”.

Comments

  1. I completely agree with you, both about the skilled trades and about following dreams. I’ve decided I want to study architecture, so I’m once again honing my digital design skills. Once I complete some research, I plan on taking freehand drawing classes at local art centers. And once the time comes, I plan on studying for and taking GREs. All so that I can avoid the common trap of sitting around waiting and whining. It happens too often already.

    Although, to be honest, your mention of seeking work in the trades is very appealing right now…

    • Yes, first and foremost work in the trade.
      One of our greatest weaknesses here is this artificial division between the intellectual and the practical. Seasoned craftsmen have been some of the greatest minds I have ever encountered. In my trade as a Millwright I have worked closely with engineers who knew little about how or why to turn a bolt. I’ve also worked with European tradesmen who were trained beyond engineering and working with their hands because that was the most satisfying and lucrative career path. How can we expect executives and engineers with no exposure to apprentice level experience to find solutions to challenges practical or conceptual?

  2. I went to school for mechanical engineering and it was totally theoretical. Only when I went back for an MBA and took welding as an interest class did I start to have a true understanding of my ME degree. Now I’m building a street tracker on a budget with lots of custom parts that I’m making myself. . . not to say I’m making the thing 100% correct, but I’m building it, not buying it.

    • amen to this blog post and that video.

      like many of the commenters, i too am the typical Big University Engineering graduate who graduated feeling like i had no usable skills. The job market was great, but i went on to get more schooling and eventually ended up finishing medical school but taking time off to take a chance and try and start my own software company. In spite of a quarter million dollars of education in “higher education”, I feel I wouldn’t have the requisite skills if it weren’t for the lessons learned from working on my motorcycle, or with a soldering iron and broken musical equipment, or fixing the house with my dad.

      interestingly. at the same time of this post, this bloomberg editorial argues the opposite
      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/postrel-how-art-history-majors-power-the-u-s-.html
      that liberal-arts education as it is in Universities today is ‘learning how to learn’, and that trade-schools are not the answer. I disagree. If anything, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, reinforced with tangible real-world feedback form the basis of ‘learning to learn’. Although i do agree with that skilled-workers need to avoid the pitfall of obsolescence, we can easily do that by putting our nose to the grindstone when it comes time to keep our skills and knowledge up to date.

      • I’ve admired Postrel’s writings since her days at Reason magazine, but that essay is disappointing.

        Her argument that liberal arts is where students “learn how to learn” is always brought up whenever this discussion takes place, but it hardly reflects the reality of what many of today’s graduates are doing, in school and after graduation, a reflection, not only on the schools, which are issuing degrees for less than stellar efforts and results, but on the students themselves who are in the arts because the STEM majors are more than they can handle.

        Learning how to learn is a process that takes place in a wide variety of environments and is more closely connected with a student’s motivation, than the specific subject matter, whether tangible or abstract. In the same vein, a true liberal education does not require a university; curiosity, motivation and a set of the Great Books is a good place to start.

        Likewise, a student electrician can learn everything he needs to know and become a highly skilled journeyman, while another might delve further during his studies, learning of Edison and Tesla or digging into theory and working his way into engineering. Motivation, the desire to know more and individual capabilities dramatically affect how broad and deep his knowledge becomes.

  4. Well put! At first I thought. Wow! just another rant from a fellow older and wiser person. The older I become the more I understand the impetus behind saying things like “These young whippersnappers these days just don’t get it”. It really hits home when you interact with younger people. There are many of them that just don’t want to get their hands dirty doing something they consider menial work. But on the flip side there are many young people using their skills to create exciting new technologies. So, we can’t just write them all off because some of them are sniveling slackers. I work in product design and when I get the opportunity to share my knowledge with some one young and interested I give it my full attention.
    As for me making 2012 a year to make it happen I am learning how to fly. May everyone make their 2012 a kick ass year!

  5. Paul,

    Thank you for you posts, as a college graduate that probably should have gone into a trade back in the mid 90’s I feel like I have completely missed out on learning a tangible skill and have a strong desire to teach myself how to be more self sufficient in all walks of life. I think in addition to the lacking mechanical aptitude we have we as a society are also missing out on the being self sustaining in gardening and wood working. I am a huge fan and your insight as well as some other blogs (treehugger being one) continue to inspire me. Regards and happy new years to all-

  6. When I was in middle and high schools in the 1960’s, “Industrial Arts” were available in most school districts in Ohio. I learned to turn wood table legs, sand-cast aluminum and bronze, to weld mild steel with electric arc and oxy-acetylene torch. Skills that I still use today around my home shop as well as my job at local nonprofit housing organization.

    My kids and grand-kids were not able to take the vocational training I had in public schools because the programs were shut down by liability insurance costs and budget cuts. The belief of many educators and politicians is that everyone needs a ‘professional’ education is just wrong-headed. The next generation of mechanics, builders and machinists need to be educated now. I doubt that we want to import these folks from China and India when there are millions of young Americans who will need good jobs.

    Mike Rowe from the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs” has formed a foundation called “Mike Rowe Works” to help bring back education for the skilled trades.

  7. I spent the day building giant moulds with a ship builder to manufacture 22 massive expo boxes for a museum. Tomorrow we start layering the fiberglass etc… And quite frankly, I’m having so much fun, that I nearly feel guilty.

    Then I get home, and check my Facebook, and read posts from High school friends about how much they hate their work, if they have one, and sometimes it’s driving a delivery truck… And most of these people have more brains than me, were better in school, but they so much want an easy job, that they end up doing stupid jobs.

    The only difference? I know how to hold a saw, took the time to learn languages and moved out of my hometown when it was clear there was no work to be enjoyed there for me (I was 18). It ain’t that hard.

  9. All well said. I’m 26, a mechanical engineering graduate, and a test engineer in the construction equipment industry. Most of my peers in college were completely helpless with their hands – many made better grades than me and now wear khakis and polo shirts to work everyday. Those who haven’t been laid off, anyway.

    Just know that there are a few of us young guys who still weld, cut, machine, and fabricate for a living in lieu of sitting in a cubicle minimizing Youtube whenever someone walks by. I’m fortunate in that I get to use the hands on skills I built growing up while utilizing the theoretical background an ME degree provides. I have to shower (with Gojo) everyday when leaving the lab and I can’t imagine working any other way.

    Your comment about job applicants lacking skills AND the willingness to work struck a chord with me. Not that it was the point of your article, but I would like emphasize that it’s not just my generation who act this way. Working in an industrial setting since early 2008 I’ve seen my share of blue collar worker layoffs. The most shocking thing I’ve taken away from the experience is an almost universal air of entitlement people seem to carry. There never seems to have been established a link between performing a valuable skill, creating value from something less valuable. Many seem to think that simply being an American entitles them to 8.00 hours per day of cracking jokes and drinking coffee for a hefty paycheck.

    On a positive note, I’m almost proud to have come from a generation that has had to deal with high unemployment and an absence of sure fire investment opportunities. Hopefully my generation will relearn the link between rolling up one’s sleeves getting dirty and being successful.

  10. Paul, I appreciate your passion on this subject.

    When I graduated High School I had two clear offers to become a VW mechanic. You see, I had spent much of my time wrenching on old bugs and buses for myself and others, making some decent money. Word got out and I got calls. After seeking the advice of a mentor who ran his own auto repair shop (and my dad was a mechanic too) I decided to go to school to get a degree instead. Now, many years later, I can demand a salary in mechanical engineering that is at two or three times as much as I would be earning as a mechanic. Living in an area where the entry level home is still around $400k I would probably be living at home with my parents if I became a mechanic.

    I know there is demand for people skilled in the trades but there is not enough of a demand in those areas to bring the salaries up to decent, livable standards. It doesn’t help that we no longer value the products of those trades either when everything is considered disposable.

    -todd

    • P.S. I signed up for the news letter many years ago but have never seen one grace my inbox. Do I need to sign up again?

      -todd

    • I agree about the problem everything being viewed as disposable. Our whole lives are geared towards consumption, my grandma told me that the difficulties we are in today are because young people expect everything all at once. In her day she said they built it slowly and earned it, and took care of what they had to make it last. Now they just get a loan and buy a new one. We had a problem with a car recently, to fix the car was about 2 grand, we were told we should trade it in because it was worth fixing. The new car would be about 15 grand, both routes would provide me a car that would get me to work reliably, so why do people trade in their cars due to a perceived number value that’s actually much more expensive. My theory is marketing, we have been brainwashes to believe things that need repair have no value.

  11. I’m a UK graduate mechanical engineer (about 15 years ago) with post grad qualifications in acoustics and I feel that in the UK and so I presume the US also employers often take on graduates and throw them in at the deep end or onto courses designed by people in human resources. The opportunity to sit and assist/ try not to slow down too much while learning loads from some guys with years of differing experience is often lost. I learnt a lot more working as part of a maintenance team before university than I did as a graduate engineer so when the opportunity came up I decided to get some more training and move to acoustics. Graduate programs seem to or seemed 15 years ago to be about moving you as quickly as possible into engineering management. I don’t think young people are not interested we have just taken on a very keen 17 year old as an apprentice and he absolutely loves learning through doing. The instructables and 3d printing and laser cutting communities also seem very vibrant. The other thing to realise I think is that doers like doers and often if they can do something well they want to teach. That is why I am now going to the factory unit next door after we finish a few nights a week to get a bit of seat time doing AC TIG welding, I couldn’t find a local course so I asked the guy next door where he learnt and he just said “pop round and I’ll show you”.

  12. I bring you this: Today a couple of engineers were in serious discussion about driving a 12 volt device from a “switched” 24 volt feed. There was blame-shifting, deflections, talk of using fussisticated dc to dc inverters, more blame-shifting and a letter in the works. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “What about using a 6 dollar cube-relay with a 24 volt coil and just grab 12 volts from the panel?”. Blink – blink – blink blink. Nothing. I had to talk slowly, but still nothing. Not a nibble. I drew a schematic. Nope? Neither of them grasped the concept. I’m not slamming higher education, but something is flawed with the current scale of accreditation. The world needs more shop classes and less attitude.

    • Actually, I see that kind of thing all the time. Some of the most brilliant people in our office are the executive assistants I think the place would descend into chaos without them

  13. OJT for me and a paycheck, too. No formal training. One older guy I learned a lot from when asked for advice on how to fix something used to say “A man built it, a man’s gonna fix it. Are you him?” If you’re hungry you’ll do OK no matter what field it is.
    It’s worth mentioning that our government needs to do the only thing it can do for jobs and that’s get out of the way.
    Now I’m the older guy and have a lot to pass on. The younger guys don’t need somebody on tv to tell them what to think. They need to trust themselves and dive in. Thanks for the forum.

  14. Have you ever gone through the old pouplar mechanic magazines in google books? They used to have projects in nearly every magazine to make almost anything. We need to return to that.

  15. I am not a motorcycle enthusiast per say but I found your site because of a fascination for all things mechanical.
    I admire your positive outlook and couldn’t agree more that we need to mentor young people to make things by hand.
    My kids saw me reading “Equations of Motion” by William F Milliken (a fantastic read for those interested in things mechanical) in the book a young William builds a go-cart, my kids immediately wanted to build something similar.
    All it takes is inspiration.

    • Agreed. The fascination is there from an early age. It’s the parent’s actions or lack of action that influences the young.

      My 4 year old daughter, from as young as 2, was always interested in helping me fix or build things. Since she’s seen it all along as a normal activity she is interested in approaching challenges on her own (I still need to help her with the screwdrivers…). If I wait to expose her to fixing things when she’s 18 I doubt I would see much interest.

      -todd

  16. I agree with you Paul…to a significant degree, but not completely. Here’s why.
    My best friend and I are much like you and many readers of this blog. Both in our 50’s with a lot of mechanical, design and fab work under our belts. As a result of years of chasing worthy goals of vehicular development, we came to this conclusion: most important at this point is bringing the motivation, that is the spark of passionate capability, to kids through individual education districts very directly in a way that benefits all concerned. The past few years have been a time of development for a educational program that is in final phases of coming to viability.
    The topic of your eloquent, passionate blog is being addressed. We have large goals and I will keep you posted. As we say, “It’s your world, too. It’s good to know how to fix it.”

  17. On this side of the big pond the situation is not very different.

    I would like to add that manufacturers are partly to blame for this, outsourcing engineering and production capacity to China. No wonder that younsters have no confidence finding an engineering job in their home country. And learning Chinese is difficult.

    We consumers should stop buying junk from China. We should realise that buying home grown quality products is better in many ways: employment, environment, economy and last-but-not-least customer satisfaction.

    I wonder though if it would be possible at all to buy a smartphone that’s not made in China.

  18. I’m 21 and I’m building my second bike as we speak. a good friend of mine is starting to build his first one but in general there aren’t allot of young guys or girls I know that are interested in these kind of things. everything can be done so fast and easy nowadays that they don’t bother thinking beyond the things that are presented to them on a golden plate. It’s a shame and it’s a worry! We will all have to do our very best if we want people to start doing things with their hands again besides accepting mass production material…so let’s go!

  19. It should be noted that the push for higher education coincided with the belittling of skilled labor as a career. Saying someone isn’t right for college can be tinged with an underlying statement of “someone isn’t smart enough for college.” That type of thinking needs to be eliminated. The concepts of book learning and manual labor don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Not only can they compliment each other, but it should also be said that a career as a skilled laborer can be a fulfilling and respectable life, regardless of achieving a BA, BS, PhD, or whatever initials Bill Cosby wished to put at the end of his name.

    I put myself through college, and ten years after graduating college, I’m only now getting a career going. I hate my work. I really do. But I’m able now to sink a few hundred dollars into a fixer-upper, take a bike maintenance class at a local community college, and plan to start getting my hands dirty replacing leaking gaskets on a 1983 Tempter. It isn’t much, but I’m finally making a decision to try something I always wanted to do as a child… work on an engine. I grew up being told that college was the way to go, and I did it, graduated, and to this day question if it was the right thing to do. I did well in school, but I was never happy, and still not, but never took the leap when I was younger because I was always told “that type of work” was beneathe me.

    I’ve seen good mechanics, not masters, just honest, competent mechanics, get approached with reverance by the humble owners of expensive cars, because those owners know this trusted mechanic can cure their ills. How is that type of work and respect “beneathe me”?

    • Saying someone isn’t right for college can be tinged with an underlying statement of “someone isn’t smart enough for college.”

      We’ve dealt with that sentiment before.

      • That author’s wife certainly held that opinion before she noticed how she would get preferential treatment around town whenever she was with her “mechanic” husband.

  20. Today, and even back in the day, those that pursued “the trades” or chose to “work in the field” were looked down upon as the less-than-able in intellectual capacity. Certainly I was both guilty of this prejudice and hence driven by fear and peer pressure to acquire both an education and a career which was lucrative, smiled upon by upwardly mobile women, and absolutely, totally unfulfilling. At the office, I was constantly daydreaming of the next modifications to either my Sportster, my E-Type, or turning out the next Cochise thumbhole stock for a Weatherby.

    It wasn’t until a motorcycle accident that left me hospitalized for nine months and pretty much house bound for another two years, that I actually found the guts and joy of doing what I should have been doing all along. During those long days of physical therapy, it was working on small tasks while sitting in a wheelchair in the garage that kept me sane. I started acquiring serious tools and serious skills that many of those people I looked down upon in high school and college had come by many years earlier. Now I must admit to having that same disdain for those that can’t change their own oil, let alone build a furnace or repair a toaster, as I did for the students that were headed for community college or a tech school.

    So my point, in parallel with the Paul Crowe’s message, would be that whether it is Computer Science, Business Administration, Wall Street or metal fabrication (hmmm, no caps there, no pretense either), it’s a wise person that follows desire to the point of doing, not just knowing. And being able to have multiple skills in different fields is just a matter of personal effort, or in my case, an accident.

    I’m preaching to the choir, right?

  21. great article, i love the phrase “work doing something that you love and you will never work a day in your life”. i had the pleasure of experiencing that for 23 years at a single line yamaha dealership in ohio, but thanks to to our new economy we have lost alot of dealerships across the country, i had to leave the store because of downsizing and the amount stress that surrounded the place , so i found a golf car shop to go to right away, its amazing there is work avaible for good skilled people with a good track record, even if it is a new industry, employers are desperate for these people ,and they are willing to teach the right person .its been almost 2 years and i miss the motorcycle industry alot , even my old dealership , its nice to learn something new, but golf carts are still not as fun or as interesting as motorcycles. I have a 14 year old son who loves his dirtbike, but trying to raise his interest in teaching him how it all works or use the small machine shop we have is not on the top of his priorities for know. i wont give up on making him see how it will help him , but the all the tech goodies have spoiled a lot of our youth.

    • I worked at a motorcycle dealership parts counter through my college years, and went on to be the parts manager for a while. If I could have earned a decent living doing that, I would have never left.

  22. I agree that there is to much theory and not enough hands on, sometimes to a scary extent. I work for a large engine manufacturers technical center. I have a degree, but prefer to be very hands on. I run the the development engines on dynos, and do anything from fabricate parts to aid with testing to look through the EPAs emissions data. It is very hard to find a person to work in my job because a lot of the time people with a degree do not want to get dirty, or do not have the skills. And those in engineering above me only know theory, not details of how things work. It was a scary day when an experianced engineer(who tunes our engine calibrations) asked me one day how a oil filter works!!!!! Sometimes it just makes me think these guys think an engine is a magical box that spins a flywheel and sucks ait in one way and hydrocarbons out the other way. I am one of the few of the younger generation that has the skill set to fabricate and work on engines rather than play video games. people always ask me how did you make that/do that? How did you learn that? Easy try it rather than saying I cant do that! Whats the worst tha can happen, you fail? Whao cares at least you tried!

    • Hey there Nolan. I am a graduate from the Minnesota State University, Mankato I have a B.S in Automotive Engineering Technology,and I would have to agree with you. The problem that I am having is that I am not afraid to get my hands dirty and I love the engineering side including the theory but since most employers see the technology at the end of my degree they think that I am just a technician. We learn engineering and theory but in a hands on way and with heavy emphasis on Automotive. The people in my program have been able to out design, build, and get things done then most of the ME people from our school but since it isn’t a well known degree most employers don’t understand that we have the engineering capabilities with the hands on experience. I am even friends with some of the ME students and your right about not knowing anything about real life hands on with almost anything. So in my case it is hard sometimes to get to the level that I want to get because Corporate needs the ME paper work and they are hoping that someone like you is available. But I am fresh out of school and have done pretty much everything you are doing at your current job it sounds like. I just need to find out how to get into Corporate and prove that I can be a better choice then some/most ME’s. email me if you can. courtney.roberts@mnsu.edu

  23. My quick addition to this excellent article and discussion. My basic premise isn’t about “do it” attitude (those that have that will do it) but a prevalence of a “feed me, but don’t make me think” culture.

    My background is electrical engineering, those as a “real” software engineer. The 25+ years of doing it all for lots of industries, and thinking about what I do, measuring what I do, improve what I do, study what others have done — you know, the usual path to improvement.

    I was chatting the other day with a friend with a similar attitude (a PhD from Caltech, as it happens) and we both bemoaned the lack of interest, or curiosity in many kids these days. They want the answers given to them, they don’t want to search, or study. Thinking is clearly too hard. And so we go round and round in the same cycles inventing “new and better” which is really just a new frock over the same problem.

    Bottom line is that there are some fundamental attitudinal issues at work here that I think need to be redressed. And I am not sure what the answer is. After all, why learn to build something when you can have it in your hand in 30mins, after spending a few bucks at Walmart? How do you instill the desire to create, not just own?

  24. This is a great post and it’s awesome to see that there are people out there that are passionate about learning real skills. Even though I was someone that ultimately took the college route and got a degree in engineering, the only reason I got there was because of the hands on skills that I learned as a kid and from learning a set of real skills.
    Today my “real job” is an engineer for a large construction company working on complex bridges.
    But I grew up learning carpentry and many other hands on skills from my dad and my grandfather who owned a construction company. Growing up I idolized the salty old men who seemed to have infinite knowledge of how to do just about anything. I never imagined that I wouldn’t grow up to be just like them until I was in high school shop class (sort of ironic) and the teacher made us take a personality test that gave us possible careers. One of the careers it suggested for me was Civil Engineering and by luck and chance I eventually went to college and got my degree. Because I had skills as a carpenter I was able to pay all my college expenses by working prevailing wage jobs. I was by no means the smartest kid in the class, but because I knew “how to” and not just “about” I’ve been able to move up quickly in my company as an engineer. While I work as an engineer during the day, my nights and weekends are still filled doing what I truly love, and that is working with my hands in my shop.
    It baffles me at the stupidity of questions senior engineers will ask sometimes because they never actually had to do any of the work. My advice to anyone that wants to pursue any degree (especially engineering) is that they first work in the trade. I promise that you will learn more in 4 years of working with your hands than you will in 10 years of college. You might even realize that your real passion is to be in the trades, instead of going to college.

    Mark in Sydney, that is a good question: How do you instill the desire to create, not just own? I think maybe if kids got more exposure to creating things on their own it would help inspire them to do more of it. I know in the US, shop classes are closing all the time and often this would have been kids only exposure to working with their hands.

    Good topic

  27. I can argue with little that you have written, and the fundamentals and ideals hit the nail pretty squarely. One issue that has come along with the beleif that a collage degree is the only route to well paying career is the subsequent decline in real skilled trades. These days I would have no idea how one would vet a journey mans card in a trade. These days the offerings are go atilnal programs that are watered down and only provide basic knowledge. This is the result of companies not wanting to pay for a true skilled trade, lower cost etc etc. This is a cycle that will be recognize when it is to late like now! !!

  28. The Honda motorcycle co. invested in designing dirt bikes for kids when they made the Z50 Minitrail because if you get their interest and build a passion you have a customer for life. It seems to have worked so well that nearly all the other manufacturers followed the example. I saw the same thing happen at a music festival when one parent and 4 kids got on stage and the parent just gently accompanied the kids through several tunes as each kid took a turn at playing the melody or singing harmonies. When the short set was over the kids were nearly mobbed by other kids that saw what happened and wanted to know how they could do it too. Monkey see monkey do sort of thing for many of them. Kids, they just have to have or do some particular thing and in a week they are no longer interested. Well, some kids really do get inspired and take up the challenge, and little by little some of the other kids sort of grow into the idea they might take a crack at it too. Making music can be really fun, just like riding and working on bikes or any of many other possibilities. If a deep interest is formed it usually lasts.

    I make my living for the past 31 years making and repairing guitars and other acoustic instruments, and before that about 10 years in a motorcycle dealership.

    My project bike is a ’82 Yamaha XZ 550 Vision. Even after messing with motorcycles on and off the track as a younger man I found the XZ an interesting educational experience that has taught me more about how motorcycles work than I really wanted to know but now I’m really glad I do. Life is good.

  29. I was inspired by Dave Gingery some 25 years ago , and that took me down some of the genuinely fascinating alleys of life which , in good time , completely changed my attitude about nearly everything . In that same vein , this was floating around all last week and fits well because the guys on the line that “fixed it” would quite likely get severely reamed or flat out fired .

    ////////
    A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which cant be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket dont get pissed off and buy another product instead.

    Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.

    The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, someone would walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.

    A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. Thats some money well spent! he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

    It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It shouldve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

    Puzzled, the CEO traveled down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.

    Oh, that, says one of the workers one of the guys put it there cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang.

  30. Great post! I can really find myself in this.

    I discovered this youtube video some time ago where mike rowe talks about skilled trades.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC0JPs-rcF0&feature=related
    I found it really fascinating and it opened my eyes. This moment i’m studying mechanical engineering and management in the Netherlands. It is a study about simplifying (production) processes and making them more efficient. It is basically the opposite of what this whole post is about. And the weird part is that unlike most of my fellow students i don’t think this is what i want to do the rest of my life. I much rather spend my free time in the garage building things with my hands. It’s where i thought myself how to weld or how to machine parts for my motorcycle. Basically enjoining to work with my hands, something almost non of my fellow students are even remotely interested in .

    Mabye its in our genes. Just like the grandfather that Mike Rowe tells about in his video, both my grandfathers used to make and do everything them selfs. building their own house, repairing a car and even building a 100 feet boat in his backyard! they somehow knew everything about anything and were always willing to teach others. I’m sure there are other people here who have similar stories. I hope i can follow in their footsteps building things, and most of all enjoy it.

    note: there is this book called ”shopclass as soulcraft” it is exactly in the same spirrit as this post. I just finished reading it and its great!

  31. I couldnt agree more. I plan on doing alot of learning this year.
    I’ve been riding 2yrs and I started learning the basic maintenance before that.
    I’m dumbfounded by the level of ignorance of most riders. They don’t know how to adjust their chain, much less change it. Its sad.
    Im learning welding this year. I have done almost everything to a bike that you can do without splitting the case.

    American blue collar work ethic is all but gone. I’m from Pittsburgh, Steel City, and our city is not what it used to be. We need people my age, and younger, to step up and be hands on again. Thank you and consider me subbed!

  32. What are you afraid of ? amature’s built an ark professionals built the titanic hmmmmm
    ride safe FE

  33. Wow… now I feel OLD, and I agree that “we” better start getting youth/young people interested in making/repairing “stuff” or we’re doomed as a society.
    I encourage anyone with “hard” skills to mentor a youth or friend, I already mentor a youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters, and also present “do it yourself” lectures at the local College and Grange in the hopes of doing just that, igniting a spark of interest in a world full of increasingly complacent people.
    Thankfully, I can do everything Mike Rowe’s grand dad could and perhaps more (I’m a great grand-dad). I’ve built everything from furniture, to houses, designed and built electronic circuits, worked on electric vehicles, installed/repaired small scale hydro/electric turbines, installed solar panels and battery/inverter systems, passed my ham radio license exam and have since built several high gain antennas (J-pole & yagi-uda style), rebuilt several bicycles, and well over 80 automobile and motorcycle engines, and even more transmissions, completely mechanically restored several cars, painted a car, a few motorcycles, and several houses, I’ve prepped/built 2 SCCA race cars and been chief mechanic on same, I’ve wired multiple houses and a few businesses, done some plumbing (ugh), woven rugs, cast bronze, created ceramic sculpture, shot/developed/printed my own photographs, I can lay a decent bead in gas and arc welding, fabricate sheet-metal, cast small parts from aluminum, I can competently operate any tool in a wood or metal shop, and more than a few tools in a machine shop, I’ve designed and built leaded glass luminaries (wall sconces), fabricated fused glass plates, and jewelry, and made a 3 inch marble from molten glass (awesome!), I can fix/repair many things mechanical, electrical, and electronic, write naked html/css code, build/repair/upgrade computers (PC’s & mac’s), solder, weld polypropylene, and fabricate several other kinds of plastic, the list of my multiple skill sets goes on, and one reason I learned this stuff was because I had the drive and desire to improve my job marketability, and it’s payed off more than I could have ever Imagined, plus, I can build stuff!

    • It’s worth noting that many of us “of a certain age” have experience and skills similar to this impressive list. My dad taught me many of these skills as he did things around the house because that’s what guys did in those years and, at the time, I thought it was just normal, didn’t everyone?

      The key is to recognize how many of these discrete bits of know how are based on a few general areas of knowledge; mechanics, electricity, hydraulics, electronics and woodworking. If you learn the basics in those areas and have an inquiring mind and want to emulate some of the adults you’ve seen doing those things, it isn’t long before you take each area further and combine them together. The next thing you know, you develop a widespread understanding of how things work, pretty much everything, and when you talk to some folks today the disparity in what they know and can do, when it comes to the “fix it” or “build it” type of know how, compared to those of us who grew up in a different environment and time, is staggering.

    • You sir, are my hero and I aspire to be like you. Please teach your grandchildren at least a small amount of what you know.

  34. Thank You fot this post. It inspires me a lot! It convinced me to subscribe. I’ ve been reading Kneeslider since some time and I like it and your attitude more and more. I feel that this year is special.

  35. Hey Paul, I want to give you feedback on the ripple effect of your blog and the positive karma you are putting out there. A while back I read one of your articles on Bob and Fred. I cant remember which was which but one was complaining about the economy etc, and the other was proactive, positive and one line stuck in my mind. It was that (I think Bob) got a promotion in a time of lay offs. I work in the public sector and about the time I was reading the article, we were finding out many of us could be losing our jobs in the coming months. I decided I was going to be like Bob, and I have been implementing the can-do positive attitude you promote. Sure enough it has paid off, lay offs are being announced, and in the midst of it, I actually scored a promotion. Not only do you educate us on the finer points of mechanics and motorcycles, but there is a lesson on life in there as well. Honestly, I think it would be one heck of a book. Keep it coming!!

    • Excellent! And, yes, that was Bob the Builder. Many folks think the positive, “can-do” approach is like believing in magic at best or a phony joke that can’t work, and if that’s what they think, they never try it. After all, they’re too smart to fall for anything like that. But, if they give it an honest chance, it works so well they start to think, … maybe it IS magic.

  36. I also agree. I am 27 and an Automotive Technician / Fabricator by trade. For me working on my own motorcycle is no big thing. My brother (24) has recently purchased his first motorcycle and has done his best to learn simple things like fluid changes and minor maintenance. He also recently learned to change his own oil in his truck. I am proud of him for wanting to do these things. Although they seem simple, many people have no idea where to begin an oil-change. A lot of people want to ride but don’t want to maintain or even attempt to correctly clean their motorcycle. Great article! I LOVE THE KNEESLIDER!

  37. I totally agree with the approach of do a trade first, i have a trade in heavy fabrication and also did Stainless steel and sheetmetal fab with a little casting on the side during my apprenticeship. then moved onto Mechanical engineering and am now a Production liaison engineer with the guys that trained me, now i know every bit of the trains we produce and how to build the things and also why we use different methods of assembly.
    We struggle in Australia too with the skills drain so im Proud to know that we produce a world class product that beats the hell out of the cheap chinese crap our competitors are importing and spending mega dollars on to get up to track worthy, only to be a few % cheaper.
    The bottom line is keep the skills in your backyard and everyone benefits!

  38. as a side note to my first comment. i started my apprenticeship at 21 and am 30 now. My Father is a Licenced Aircraft Mechanical Engineer and passed many skills to me, and he himself started out as a tool and die maker 45+ years ago. its kind of sad that of his 4 children i am the only doer in his eyes.

  39. Kneeslider,

    It’s kind of a strange thing coming across this article at this particular time. At the very end of last year I decided that I wanted to pursue something that I have always wanted to do. For as long as I have been driving I have wanted to work with and on motorcycles. I have been in and out of so many shops as a kid asking to be taught, and no one seemed willing, at least in my part of the world. For a long time I was discouraged and even gave up on the idea for a while. I even tried going to traditional college so that I could be “something”. Well that didn’t work. Somehow, I ended up working in telecommunications for 6 years. It just didn’t seem right.

    So this year, I have packed up what things I have left after selling most of it to be able to afford a move, and moved to a new place to attend a technical school. Won’t say which one. I’m 27 now and have been working with my hands for as long as I have been working. I’ve cut bicycles into pieces and welded them into something completely new, for fun. I’ve made insane contraptions with no real purpose, for fun. I’ve always been tinkering with or creating things. I’ve always been and always will be a gear head.

    I will say that I have noticed a certain attitude concerning work and life in general amongst many of the students at this school. They seem to have a chip on their shoulders, and not many seem to really want to do any work. Or learn anything, for that matter. This generation seems to be missing something. The one behind us is even worse from what I have seen.

    What am I getting at? Don’t count the young guys out just yet my friend. We may not be as prominent as we used to, but are here and we are shaping the world for the better. The ones that actually want to get dirty, anyways.

    Cheers!

  41. I want to give analogy here though. Pretend the “KneeSlider” is a funnel. Well even if a few successful people in the US of the 311,591,917+/- people responded..it would seem like a lot to the author. It would seem like opportunity was abound.

    Simple fact of the matter is you need money to do anything. Money and demand for what your doing. And you really do need opportunity, if nothing, the opportunity to know that a field exist. I had no shop class in my highschool. Didn’t even know machining was a field you could go into until waaaay after highschool.

    I tried to break into heavy equipment operation via a trade school here recently.. . But no one in my state, or the surrounding states seems to be hiring entry level operators because their waiting to see what kind of legislation is going to be passed in regards to health care. Or.. they just don’t have work I suppose.

    Can’t start my own business either. Cost of equipment. Don’t know the ropes.

    So now I’m shouldered with heavy school debt, and it makes everyday a challenge financially.

    I’m not being negative, so much as realistic about the situation I’m in. Just wanted to share. I took a calculated gamble and crashed and burned. Its all on my shoulders. I accept that. Not trying to whine.

    It seemed like something was assumed about the readership of this awesome site.

    • Don’t give up yet. When I first got out of school it took three years of hitting the pavement and working in a restaurant before I finally broke through and got a career type position. Once you crack that first one though, it gets a lot easier. My husband and I also started an excavating company. We bought the machinery with no money down we were even able to finance the down payment, the machine ended up paying for itself. Go in, talk to the sales guys, in our case it was the company itself (CAT) that financed it. Things are tough, there is no question but if you keep at it it does get better. Don’t think of what your can’t do, but what you can. Sooner or later something will work, just never, never give up.