Workplaces and Industry

The divisions of labor in the United States and abroad are so split up that most people never truly bother to think about what it’s like to work in another sector. People who work in finance are not going to be inclined to think about teachers who work in elementary schools, for example. A light rigging specialist for movie sets probably has very little time to think about the common every day tasks that a park ranger has to carry out to make sure that their parks are open, friendly and safe. There doesn’t seem to be any connective tissue between an auto worker who needs to find replacement parts for a vehicle and the foreman of a factory that supplies other factories with the used induction furnace and the induction heating coil. But if any of these people, or you, dig a little deeper you might discover a few things you didn’t think of before. For example, you might not think that there is much of a connection between being a teacher and being the foreman of a steel mill that specializes in spare parts and the induction melting furnace but there absolutely is. For example, both involve very specific leadership skills and communication skills, namely the ability to keep people focused and on task. Both jobs involve treating other people like human beings and learning how they work best and how they learn best in specific environments. What the people underneath them need to learn varies, of course. A teacher who instructs children on math is not going to be teaching her students how to work a copper melting furnace. A woman running an assembly line for a copper melting furnace is not going to take her time to her employees basic math and things they should probably already know. But both jobs involve handing out instructions, trusting the people underneath and trusting yourself to treat them fairly and equitably. Whether the people you are trusting are jut tiny humans who are still learning and growing or full grown people with their own set of ideas and priorities, there is a lot of overlap in how you ought to treat them and guide them. Let’s take a look at these two scenarios a little more in depth to see what that means.
Teaching in Elementary School
Imagine for a moment you are teaching in an elementary school. Writing, let’s say. You have a class of young students and you need to teach them how to construct sentences properly. What is the first thing you do? Well, before they can write, they need to understand the abstract series of rules and ideas that govern whatever language they are learning. Unfortunately, there are no languages that rely on logic and precision alone to get their message across. All languages are human made and constantly evolving so they all possess idiosyncrasies and puzzles that need to be intuited before they can be understood. This might sound like it has anything to do with learning how to operate a copper melting furnace but it absolutely does. Now, after they pick up on the basics, you need to make sure each of your students also understands the power that words possess. It’s not enough to teach them how to write effectively and clearly. You also need to remember that you are providing them a powerful tool and they should strive to use for it for their best interest and the best interest of everyone around them. So take your time and be careful with that.
Heavy Industry
Now, say you are a foreman for an industrial smelting company. You need to make sure all of your employees know how to use the copper melting furnace so they dont hurt themselves or people around them. You are giving them a power as well while you teach them and they need to understand that as well as understanding how to use it to the best of their abilities. They should also understand that the products they’re making will affect the lives of millions they should work safely and to the best of their ability. Only in this way will they understand how they are connected to everyone else.