As geotechnical engineers, environmental engineers, civil engineers, geologists, environmental scientists, technicians, designers, etc. we easily get wrapped up in the technical details of the project at hand.  Don’t forget the non-technical skills that “matter”.  Those skills make your job more enjoyable - for you, for your client, for your fellow employees, for your direct reports, for your boss, and down the line.

Seth Godin has this to say about mattering:

“You Matter

• When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
• When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
• When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
• When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
• When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
• When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
• When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
• When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
• When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
• When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
• And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.”

Now go out and matter!

Wow!  Seth hit the nail on the head in his post titled The Intangibles.

“Where do you find repeat business or even new business? How do you make a sale (to another business or to a consumer) when you cost more?

The answer, of course, is the intangibles. The things that have no price. Things that customers value more than it costs you to provide them.

If you don’t have that, all you can do is beg. And begging is not a scalable strategy.

It’s the intangibles that drive all of the non-commodity decisions, and your job is to build remarkable ones and tell stories about them.”

This [CLICK HERE] is a MUST read for all Aquaterrians!

Recently we were visited by Aquaterra’s senior management team for a company update and discussion of management role changes. During this presentation a question came up about training and I also had a flashback to a period of a nine year employment with a very large engineering firm. Within that firm there was at times mention of mentoring programs, but no programs were ever successful because many of the employees had the wrong perspective. The work environment and management style created a situation where people were scared to teach each other or share information for fear of losing their job to that person. For example, as an aspiring designer at that time with no formal engineering schooling I once asked an engineer to show me how to size a culvert. The engineer told me that if she showed me how that I would be able to replace her. This was typical throughout the office and as a result the work environment was stagnant for everyone. No one was moving. As an employee at that company you just became very good at the exact same task year after year or you tried your very best to learn those tasks on your own.

My move to the next company provided a totally different perspective from top to bottom. During my first week a senior engineer sat with me and taught me more in that week than my 9 years at the other company. I was so astonished that I asked the engineer why he was taking so much time to teach me. His reply was the more he could teach me the less he would have to work on the details of the project, and he would be free to complete the more difficult project tasks, managing the client and taking on new tasks for himself.

Notice the two completely different views.   One view was if I share information with you I may get phased out and the other was if I teach you more I will be free to learn more and move up. So which of the two is better? The people that wanted to protect themselves actually hurt themselves by not helping others grow. The process will hopefully reciprocate from the top down to the bottom. How often do we hear or we are asked by others if a place of employment offers growth. Most us want to know that we can progress through the years.

During the presentation Victor told us how senior management and others would be taking on new roles and be learning new things, but what about us? Later that evening I wondered what I could provide to Aquaterra Engineering. Again it is perspective. It is not just about what I can gain personally, but what I can provide to others. After leaving that large firm a number of years ago I have had the privilege to train many designers and engineers how to refine their design abilities using CAD software. Instead of protecting knowledge it becomes a joy to watch someone else grow by sharing knowledge. Later you can stand back and reflect on their growth and how you had a hand in shaping their career. Being helpful in sharing information with others typically reciprocates. In other terms, you reap what you sow.  Those who I teach are typically willing to teach me as well and the end result is we all become a better team.

The following is something to consider when thinking about the difference between training and mentoring.

Mentoring is relational. It is like a father to his child or a friend to a friend, where as, coaching and training is a task assigned and obligated to complete. Mentoring is building a relationship with someone and helping them grow. Not out of obligation, but because you want to see them grow. Training is typically assigned and measured as we see on annual reviews as tasks set by management. Did you learn this assigned task? Yes or No? Did we make the opportunity for you to learn this task? Yes or No? Mentoring, on the other hand, has no boundaries. I can mentor to someone above, below or equal to my level. A person seeking a mentor typically does not need to seek the approval of management and management may or may not even recognize this growth. Yet the mentor and the mentored can find personal fulfillment in the experience. You know you are growing as an employee in your skills and knowledge or you know you have helped someone else grow.

I can only effectively mentor those in my office since that is where I build day-to-day working relationships, but I can provide coaching to staff abroad, if desired. I have started a personal blog with a few entries relating to using advanced CAD methodologies. I hope to add to this blog as others have questions. I have a lot to learn myself as far as Civil 3D goes, but if you have a question about using these design software products let me know and maybe we can learn something together. If you are interested in access to the blog you can email me.

-Jesse Aldridge

I’ve made several posts here and here about e-mail do’s and don’ts. Here’s a pretty good post by Seth Godin with an e-mail checklist - things to check before hitting send:

E-mail Checklist.

Happy e-mailing.

As engineers, almost every one of us is creating designs or reports just like we were taught - usually the way it’s been done for 20+ years. We (especially geotechnical engineers) complain about our services becoming a commodity. Here’s what Seth Godin says about that - “Once your business becomes a commodity, you can struggle or you can re-invent.”

So, do you want to keep struggling? Do you want to keep having to “bid” your services? No? Then reinvent, recreate, revolutionize. If not the product, then the service or the delivery. Provide something no one else provides. Give some thought to how you can revolutionize your product or your service. Stand out. Differentiate.

I’ve written before that Multi-tasking is Overrated. Check out this great video from Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and author of <u>Brain Rules</u>:

Does this look familiar? It does to me. So often today, we try to simultaneously write a report, read/respond to e-mail, answer the phone (two of them), and talk with someone in our office. The cure? Shut the door for a period, turn e-mail off, set the cell phone to silent, tell your receptionist to send calls to voice mail, and GET SOMETHING DONE! Don’t get me wrong, we MUST be available to clients and staff these days, but I can attest that too much availability results in nothing getting done. Schedule productive periods where you’re only focus is on getting things done.

FYI … I found this info over at Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen blog.

We live in a graphic world as much today as we have for thousands of years. Thus, the age-old “A picture is worth a thousand words.” We are programed to recognize things visually. As in “Hey! That’s a tiger! Run!” Not, “That’s a t-i-g-e-r, I better r-u-n.”

Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and author of Brain Rules says that when we read, we are actually using brain power to recognize the shape (visual) of each letter in each word. Here’s what he says:

Without visual stimulation, this is what happens:

Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen, put together a little slideshow outlining some of the principles of Dr. Medina’s book as they relate to making presentations, check it out:

| View | Upload your own

Good stuff. We need to see more of these techniques at engineering conferences.

[Rant] This post is for you students or job seekers out there. As a Vice President over our East Region for Aquaterra, I receive a lot of resumes - a lot. A lot of resumes that look exactly like the dozens of other resumes I receive. Why? Why in the world would you send me a resume that looks like everyone else’s resume? Are you so lazy and uncreative that you can’t create a resume any better than the standard Word Template? That’s what you’re telling a potential employer to whom you send your template resume - you’re lazy, boring, and uncreative! In this world of technology, be creative. Set yourself apart. Here are some ideas.

• Create a personal web site. Go out and register your own domain (joeblow.com). Then put your on-line resume there. But, make it creative. Don’t just tell me about your achievements, show me.
• Post pictures from your tenure as Vice President of the student chapter of ASCE. Show me pictures from your participation in the concrete canoe competition, timber bridge, whatever.
• Show me your work. You did an internship/summer employment with another firm? Good, show me your work (with permission of course). Show me your senior project.
• Create a video. Post it on the web site. Have a friend interview you on camera (Barbera Walters style). Tell me something interesting about yourself. What do you excel at? What motivates you? What obstacles have you overcome? What makes you an outstanding hire? Don’t want to do the interview-style video? Fine. Create a compilation video of you at school, you doing what you do - skateboarding, motocross racing, horse riding, working on cars, whatever. I see what you kids are doing on Youtube -some amazing stuff.
• Create a FAQ. Post on the web site a Frequently Asked Questions (i.e. interview questions). Do a search on the web of great interview questions and answer them.
• Use some of the cool mapping applications to show me where you’re from, where you went to school.
• Post to the web site any presentations you’ve made. Record them and add audio to your slide deck via slideshare.net.

Those are just a few ideas. In all my years, I have received one resume in this manner. After reviewing the young lady’s web site, I called and hired her as soon as I could! [/Rant]

p.s. And for goodness sake, don’t allow your resume to go out with misspelled words. I receive at least one of these a month. Straight into the garbage can it goes. If you don’t care enough to proof your resume, I can’t afford to employ you!

“He who thinks he can”

~ Orison Swett Marden

This is actually a title from his book published in 1908. Here are some other quotes from the book:

“Multitudes of people, enslaved by bad physical habits, are unable to get their best selves into their work”

“Almost anybody can resolve to do a great thing; it is only the strong, determined character that puts the resolve into action”

“Happiness is a condition of mind”

“There is no word in the English language more misused and abused than luck”

“The test of the quality of the individual is the spirit in which he does his work”

I was reading Dr. John C. Maxwells newsletter Leadership Wired entitled Finding Joy this past week and found this nugget. This also parallels Vic’s Aquaterraian e-mail this week.

“We nourish ourselves whenever we enter into activities that build our energy reserves. Consider this list of common nourishment sources:

1. Music - What songs lift me? Take some time and listen to music you enjoy.
   
2. Thoughts - What thoughts speak to me? Take some time and think.
   
3. Experiences - What experiences rejuvenate me? Experience life!
   
4. Friends - What people encourage me? Spend time with good friends.
   
5. Recreation - What recreation re-creates me? Recreate!
   
6. Soul - What spiritual exercises strengthen me? Exercise your mind, body, and soul.
   
7. Hopes - What dreams inspire me? Dream big!
   
8. Home - What family members care for me? Stop, look, love your family.
   
9. Giftedness - What gifts activate me? Giving — the greatest gift.
   
10. Memories - What memories make me smile?” Think good thoughts — find your happy place.

Take some time to consider the activities (or non-activity) that nourish your soul. Then take charge and get some nourishment periodically. No one can run on empty reserves for long.