When I first went to Japan for my industrial training in 1978, most of my trainers couldn’t speak English. The only way that I could communicate with them was through my interpreter, Hino-san. Since my training period was short I thought if I could get hold of the written procedures it would help me to cover all the operations on time. I thought it was a smart thing to do; having discovered that they are all handwritten in Japanese (Toshiba had not come out the affordable word processors, pronounced as ‘wapuro’ in Japanese during the time yet); the motivation that I had to getting every operation covered within the period just flew away. “My life is going to be a miserable one for the next 30 days”; I said to myself while pondering what was going to be my next strategy.
Hino-san, 20 years my senior, knew that it was not going to be easy for me; and had arranged the authors of the handwritten procedures to explain what they had written. It was definitely a break for me. So, we started the meeting immediately. Having gone halfway through all the operational procedures, I noticed that most of the authors were elderly with high school background and would be retiring in 4 to 5 years time. Hino-san would always refer them as ‘pro’, I knew he was serious and wasn’t ‘pulling their legs’. He really meant that they were professionals specializing in their field of work. This made me wonder what actually was in Hino-san mind when he referred to them as ‘pro’ because what I understood was; a professional is a person who belongs to a professional club or a society and would provide professional kind of services.
Well many years had passed. Occasionally, I would use the word ‘pro’ to tee-up the skillful seniors to new members of a group without really knowing the true characteristics of a pro or a professional.
Only after 30 years I heard that the word ‘pro’ uttered by Hino-san, I am able list down the true characteristics of a professional. (I hope I am not a slow learner.) To me a pro or professional is anybody who not only confined to doctors, lawyer and golfers; conducts any work that can maintain the his/her livelihood; he can be an online marketer, machinist or taxi driver. I came up with 5 characteristics of a true pro or a professional which I believe can make tremendous change in ones life and make him/her a true professional. These set characteristic I think would agree to Hino-san’s definition of a pro.
As for presenting the 5 characteristics; this time I would do a write up instead of to listing them here like 1, 2, 3 or a, b, c, etc. I know it’s very ‘unprofessional’ of me to do so; but I came across too many blog posts that were like technical writing assignments that were written for grades. When reading a post, particularly the how to…types; I would just jump start and look for the head of the list or number 1 and start my reading from there and I will not read beyond the last number. These posts were set up for quickies I presumed.
When I recollect my encounter with the pros 30 years ago, I recalled that all the handwritten operational procedures were accurate in describing the steps of how the operations must be carried out in order to produce quality products. Each step of the procedures had a unique connection to one another and must be executed precisely at a given interval. It was like the execution of hitting each note on the piano keyboard or the combination of several notes at a given moment when a wonderful melody is played on a piano. These operational procedures were based on many years of data collection and analysis done by the pros. None of the operational procedures were written based on assumptions or inclusive studies or simulations. These professionals kept a detail and comprehensive record showing the effects of varying conditions against the product quality. They never ‘lied’ when writing the operational procedures. True professionals never tempered with the results they got or bluff their way through. Nowadays, the fame and glory of winning are so huge that some professionals resort to cheating which can land them in jail and disgrace. Be a lesson to us, cheaters may get by once or twice or three times but sooner of later that truth will get even with them.
You see, the professionals that Hino-san introduced to me were about 50 years old at that time. I presumed they had started working at the age of between 18 to 20 year old as operators in the company few years after World War 2 (WWII) where resources were a limited and difficult to get. Despite of the hardships and difficulties they put in great efforts into learning while making their livelihoods through the jobs that were given to them. They might have had bad memories during the war but they never dwell on these bad experiences. They kept o
n working diligently recording and maintaining a superb documentation of their experiences which without them the company would not have been able to grow rapidly and making offshore investments. Many among us have the habit of dwelling on the past whether on our successes or failures so much so that these past experiences would dominate our present life and stop us from taking actions base on current situation. Those who take actions base on present situation are the true professionals. We heard many entrepreneurs who failed due to reasons that were either within their controls or that were beyond their reach came back successfully making their millions again. These are the people who never let failure or success to influence their decisions on current matters. A classic example was Thomas A. Edison who failed in his experiments more that 10,000 times before finally discovered the light bulbs and patented it in January 27, 1880 as written by Napoleon Hill in his great book “Think and Grow Rich”. I think if Mr. Edison were to dwell on his failures; I would never be using the electrical light bulb and would be burning candles to study for my high schools exams in the early 1970s.
If you had read part 1 of my 5-parts Positive Thinking series which entitled “Focusing on what’s right”; you would know the importance of this habit in being part of our life. It is thus one of the important characteristics that must be possessed by the people who we referred them as professionals. The professional operators that I was referring earlier surely knew what were expected from them besides earning their living as the machine operators in the factory; they knew was exactly to do, what exactly to measure and what exactly to write because they understand that their efforts would be put in good use for the benefit of the company and ultimately for the benefit of the entire community in which they belong. In another example, by doing what is right for him and fellow players, a world class profession golfer, like Tiger Wood, exhibit a high standard of performance that has made golf a phenomenal sport has attracted millions of new enthusiasts in the past 10 years. All he does is focusing on what he’s good at; that is, winning.
Dedication in ones field is the answer to be good and thus getting the respect from others who benefited from ones work. I read a blog post sometimes last week that told me to be passionate about writing if I have the desire to tell the world and making my readers benefited from my posts. Keep doing in what you are good at is the key note to be a true professional. “A rolling stone gather no moss” and “jack of all trades but master of none” are proverbs that tell us that we will not leave a good impression of our ability if we keep hopping from one field to another. It is like investing your money in businesses or markets that you already knew its return and with no risk, it’ll be much safer rather that gamble it in places that promised high returns only to realized later that your money were all gone. True professionals only concentrate the improving in the fields that their livelihoods are depended on. Being a consultant like me, it’s imperative to be good at what I’m passionate about. So, be a pro and have a desire to master the skill that you are passionate about; this would make your living easy and more meaningful.
The pros who wrote operational procedures that I mentioned earlier had utilized their power of knowledge to enable that company to go into unknown territories to expand it business. I am sure that they would feel proud that their hard work had resulted in the betterment of lives of people in another country by providing jobs and creating new businesses. They never would have though that it would have a great impact on the livelihood of the people in another part of the world.
The procedures that were shown to me were just the tip of an ice berg of the total work that they had contributed to the company. Other works like the calculations of the machines design and the reliability data of each machine for 20 years in the process lines are powerful information that these people have collected and used in setting up new factories abroad. I refer it as powerful information because it is being use for the benefit of its owner. Knowledge of a professional is only considered powerful if it is being used by the professional to transform into innovations to serve the population and thus makes millions.
You and I can become a pro in our own field if we live up to have the passion of being a professional and possess the 5 characteristics as described above. These are the characteristics that one should posses in order to achieve our goals in life. This law of professionalism that I have presented here is the essential ingredient in today’s living where competition amongst us is just too great and success is measured by the millions we make.
I can now list down each characteristic for your reference;
1. Professionals never lie. In any circumstances we must talk, measure and relate as accurate as possible and with confidence. It is our responsibility that these matters are being correctly conveyed to the people so that the information that we gathered would benefit the public in general.
2. Professionals are not deterred or absorbed by past successes or failures and allowing these past experiences to influence their decisions on current situations. Without looking back they keep on marching into new frontiers discovering new beginnings for others to share what they have discovered.
3. Professionals focus on what is right for them and making decisions that are right for their professions so many would emulate them in their footsteps
4. Professionals are devoted people. Their devotions in the field of their specialty are unparalleled so to open up the opportunity for others to study and be devoted like them; thus ensuring that their professions will never be forgotten.
5. Professionals posses the knowledge that is unique to them and uses them for the benefit of the people believes in them.
Hino-san, 20 years my senior, knew that it was not going to be easy for me; and had arranged the authors of the handwritten procedures to explain what they had written. It was definitely a break for me. So, we started the meeting immediately. Having gone halfway through all the operational procedures, I noticed that most of the authors were elderly with high school background and would be retiring in 4 to 5 years time. Hino-san would always refer them as ‘pro’, I knew he was serious and wasn’t ‘pulling their legs’. He really meant that they were professionals specializing in their field of work. This made me wonder what actually was in Hino-san mind when he referred to them as ‘pro’ because what I understood was; a professional is a person who belongs to a professional club or a society and would provide professional kind of services.
Well many years had passed. Occasionally, I would use the word ‘pro’ to tee-up the skillful seniors to new members of a group without really knowing the true characteristics of a pro or a professional.
Only after 30 years I heard that the word ‘pro’ uttered by Hino-san, I am able list down the true characteristics of a professional. (I hope I am not a slow learner.) To me a pro or professional is anybody who not only confined to doctors, lawyer and golfers; conducts any work that can maintain the his/her livelihood; he can be an online marketer, machinist or taxi driver. I came up with 5 characteristics of a true pro or a professional which I believe can make tremendous change in ones life and make him/her a true professional. These set characteristic I think would agree to Hino-san’s definition of a pro.
As for presenting the 5 characteristics; this time I would do a write up instead of to listing them here like 1, 2, 3 or a, b, c, etc. I know it’s very ‘unprofessional’ of me to do so; but I came across too many blog posts that were like technical writing assignments that were written for grades. When reading a post, particularly the how to…types; I would just jump start and look for the head of the list or number 1 and start my reading from there and I will not read beyond the last number. These posts were set up for quickies I presumed.
When I recollect my encounter with the pros 30 years ago, I recalled that all the handwritten operational procedures were accurate in describing the steps of how the operations must be carried out in order to produce quality products. Each step of the procedures had a unique connection to one another and must be executed precisely at a given interval. It was like the execution of hitting each note on the piano keyboard or the combination of several notes at a given moment when a wonderful melody is played on a piano. These operational procedures were based on many years of data collection and analysis done by the pros. None of the operational procedures were written based on assumptions or inclusive studies or simulations. These professionals kept a detail and comprehensive record showing the effects of varying conditions against the product quality. They never ‘lied’ when writing the operational procedures. True professionals never tempered with the results they got or bluff their way through. Nowadays, the fame and glory of winning are so huge that some professionals resort to cheating which can land them in jail and disgrace. Be a lesson to us, cheaters may get by once or twice or three times but sooner of later that truth will get even with them.
You see, the professionals that Hino-san introduced to me were about 50 years old at that time. I presumed they had started working at the age of between 18 to 20 year old as operators in the company few years after World War 2 (WWII) where resources were a limited and difficult to get. Despite of the hardships and difficulties they put in great efforts into learning while making their livelihoods through the jobs that were given to them. They might have had bad memories during the war but they never dwell on these bad experiences. They kept o
n working diligently recording and maintaining a superb documentation of their experiences which without them the company would not have been able to grow rapidly and making offshore investments. Many among us have the habit of dwelling on the past whether on our successes or failures so much so that these past experiences would dominate our present life and stop us from taking actions base on current situation. Those who take actions base on present situation are the true professionals. We heard many entrepreneurs who failed due to reasons that were either within their controls or that were beyond their reach came back successfully making their millions again. These are the people who never let failure or success to influence their decisions on current matters. A classic example was Thomas A. Edison who failed in his experiments more that 10,000 times before finally discovered the light bulbs and patented it in January 27, 1880 as written by Napoleon Hill in his great book “Think and Grow Rich”. I think if Mr. Edison were to dwell on his failures; I would never be using the electrical light bulb and would be burning candles to study for my high schools exams in the early 1970s.If you had read part 1 of my 5-parts Positive Thinking series which entitled “Focusing on what’s right”; you would know the importance of this habit in being part of our life. It is thus one of the important characteristics that must be possessed by the people who we referred them as professionals. The professional operators that I was referring earlier surely knew what were expected from them besides earning their living as the machine operators in the factory; they knew was exactly to do, what exactly to measure and what exactly to write because they understand that their efforts would be put in good use for the benefit of the company and ultimately for the benefit of the entire community in which they belong. In another example, by doing what is right for him and fellow players, a world class profession golfer, like Tiger Wood, exhibit a high standard of performance that has made golf a phenomenal sport has attracted millions of new enthusiasts in the past 10 years. All he does is focusing on what he’s good at; that is, winning.
Dedication in ones field is the answer to be good and thus getting the respect from others who benefited from ones work. I read a blog post sometimes last week that told me to be passionate about writing if I have the desire to tell the world and making my readers benefited from my posts. Keep doing in what you are good at is the key note to be a true professional. “A rolling stone gather no moss” and “jack of all trades but master of none” are proverbs that tell us that we will not leave a good impression of our ability if we keep hopping from one field to another. It is like investing your money in businesses or markets that you already knew its return and with no risk, it’ll be much safer rather that gamble it in places that promised high returns only to realized later that your money were all gone. True professionals only concentrate the improving in the fields that their livelihoods are depended on. Being a consultant like me, it’s imperative to be good at what I’m passionate about. So, be a pro and have a desire to master the skill that you are passionate about; this would make your living easy and more meaningful.
The pros who wrote operational procedures that I mentioned earlier had utilized their power of knowledge to enable that company to go into unknown territories to expand it business. I am sure that they would feel proud that their hard work had resulted in the betterment of lives of people in another country by providing jobs and creating new businesses. They never would have though that it would have a great impact on the livelihood of the people in another part of the world.
The procedures that were shown to me were just the tip of an ice berg of the total work that they had contributed to the company. Other works like the calculations of the machines design and the reliability data of each machine for 20 years in the process lines are powerful information that these people have collected and used in setting up new factories abroad. I refer it as powerful information because it is being use for the benefit of its owner. Knowledge of a professional is only considered powerful if it is being used by the professional to transform into innovations to serve the population and thus makes millions.
You and I can become a pro in our own field if we live up to have the passion of being a professional and possess the 5 characteristics as described above. These are the characteristics that one should posses in order to achieve our goals in life. This law of professionalism that I have presented here is the essential ingredient in today’s living where competition amongst us is just too great and success is measured by the millions we make.
I can now list down each characteristic for your reference;
1. Professionals never lie. In any circumstances we must talk, measure and relate as accurate as possible and with confidence. It is our responsibility that these matters are being correctly conveyed to the people so that the information that we gathered would benefit the public in general.
2. Professionals are not deterred or absorbed by past successes or failures and allowing these past experiences to influence their decisions on current situations. Without looking back they keep on marching into new frontiers discovering new beginnings for others to share what they have discovered.
3. Professionals focus on what is right for them and making decisions that are right for their professions so many would emulate them in their footsteps
4. Professionals are devoted people. Their devotions in the field of their specialty are unparalleled so to open up the opportunity for others to study and be devoted like them; thus ensuring that their professions will never be forgotten.
5. Professionals posses the knowledge that is unique to them and uses them for the benefit of the people believes in them.
1 comment:
Great points. At one time in my career I visited hundreds of businesses in various industries and had to learn as much as I could about the company and industry as I could in a relatively short period of time. I always tried to make it a point to seek out the "pro" personnel even if they were not my key contact points. They were often the best sources of information on what was truly the heart of the business or industry.
In my own profession I always tried to stress to others (trainees and associates) the "why" rather than the "how to" of certain tasks. I always felt the "why" was perhaps more important as it would allow them to assess new situations in the future and determine if the traditional "how to" was going to provide the correct results or information that was being sought.
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