Brain food for the metalworking shop

Not all needed skills in a metalworking shop involve the hands. Our brains are the most powerful tools we have at our disposal if we just pry them open a little. We can often think our way out of a problem if we give ourselves a chance.

Improvement in thinking starts with admitting you don’t know something. As soon as you say “I don’t understand,” you open the door. You can’t put money inside a locked safe; the door has to be opened. The combination to the brain lock starts with “I don’t understand.”

Courtesy of T. Lipton

Labeling material scraps and drops early saves time later.

Communication is accomplished in a metalworking shop in several ways. The more effective you are with these methods, the further you will go in your chosen field. Effective communication is quick, clean, accurate and—most importantly—to the point. A good engineering drawing has all these elements.

Effective written and visual communication can be considered a form of language. If you don’t speak the language, you are condemned to get your information from people who do. A stranger in a strange land is not in a friendly place.

A short note or sketch is worth its weight in gold compared to even the most detailed verbal information. If you just counted the parts in a box, take a second and leave a note for the next person so they don’t have to recount. The note is a physical representation of a single thought that all you have to do is see it and you instantly remember.

If you must receive information in oral form, do yourself a favor and write it down immediately. A few quickly taken notes may make the difference in doing a job correctly. Documentation wins vs. memory when the chips are down and hats are being handed out for rear ends.