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A good advice
Many years ago, when I worked as an apprentice electrician at a shipyard, someone dropped a lamp. I stepped forward to catch it, but the foreman held me back.
“Don’t you ever do that“, he said: “Just let it drop!”
“But that is a waste“, I said: “Look, it is broken now!”
“Never mind that. Throw it in the dustbin. For the boss it would have been much worse if you had hurt yourself.”
It took me some time to get used to the idea, but of course he was right. The lamp may have cost about $50, but one employee off the job for one day is much more expensive. Not to mention the complications if an employee becomes disabled in such an accident on the job.
“So remember“, he said: “Whenever you see something falling at the job, you take a step back and let it go!”
It was a good advice, but maybe I haven’t learned enough yet. If you don’t take it so literally, I am still catching things that about to fall over. Recently I suddenly remembered this incident. Indeed: I have a tendency to help out if something seems to go wrong. If a volunteer is needed and nobody has the time, or the inclination to step forward, I do. Because the work will have to be done one way or another!
But maybe that is also a bad idea. Maybe it is even bad for the company. If all the problems get solved anyway, management can lean back and feel comfortable. Then, they tell the people who take the blows, that they are underperforming, because they don’t work efficiently enough.
Could that be the problem?
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