EDITORIALLY S P E A K I N G EDITOR'SNOTE: We m e pleased to devote this page to a. eondensation of remarks by Dr. Sumner B. Twiss, President of the Chemical Division of Chrysler Corporation, on the theme The Scientist and Engineer in Transition a t Lawrence Institute of Technology, June 1965. This solid advice is the best "voestional guidance" type of material we can publish; it belongs on departmental bulletin boards along with the multitude of multicolor lures for the potential graduate. Dr. Twiss, s. Johns Hopkina PhD, joined Chrysler in 1946 from the faculty of Wayne State. His research and writing have ranged wide aver the field of applied polymer chemistry. The young scientist or engineer on his first industrial job is in a stage of transition where major adjustments in his attitudes, outlook, and responses to people must be made. The transition is a subtle thing-not, readily recognized by the young person undergoing it. Essentially, ir is a transition from being a. recipient of services to a producer of services. I n college, the young engineer or scientist lived in a fairly cloistered environment, more than he realized. People looked out for him, guided him. The currioulum was designed to prevent such folly as t a k i i thermodynamics before algebra and calculus. The competition was minor and friendly, such as competing for best grades in his favorite courses. On the first industrial job, however, things are quite different. The effort is no longer to protect the individual, but to protect the interests of the employer. The channeling of activities is primarily toward the employer's goals and only incidentally toward the personal development of the individual. And the competition, even though it still may be friendly, is now serious. I t is for the superior positions in the company and the profession. In college, the individual was measured by examinations; in industry, he is measured by job performance, All of his life, the young graduate has heard of the free enterprise system and the profit motive. One of his most interesting discoveries will be when be perceives on the job how well it can mesh with his personal ideals and strivings. If whet he does contributes to the profitability of hi. company, he is certain to progress. The profit motive makes it virtudly impossible to hide his light under a bushel-if that light is more than a flicker. What are the attributes of leadership? What qualities must be demonstrated to get ahead? Certainly one way to demonstrate identification with the objectives of the company-and the capacity for leadershipjs to go beyond the minimum asked by the employer. This means that one does not do just what he has been asked to do and no more, period. He adds to the assignment all the extras that appear to be pertinent, and he is willing to make suggestions. He should add to a report, for example, all information that he considers pertinent and which may be unknown or obscured to his superior. He thus helps the employer reach a decision. The young scientist and engineer in transition will find that on the job, many elements enter into a decision. Things are not just black or white, but many shades of gray. Intellectual intolerenee cannot prevail; open-mindedness and receptivity to the views of others are essential. Executives, in making deciaions, have to consider factors that may he completely unknown to the individual, who may therefore find himself in disagreement
with superiors. At times, he himself may be a t odds with associates and subordinates. The training of the scientist or engineer tends to make him opinionated, even officious at times, when dealing with intangiblesor with only part of thefacts. Thi. can lead to no good, either to the company or to the individual. As Charles F. Jones, President of Humble Oil and Refining Company, stated at a recent meeting of the AIChE, "While it i s necessary for the engineer to know the melting point of materials, it is oft,en more irnnortmt for him to know the boiline .. mint of Ila :ta*t,ri:ttca. . IIp muat apply t l a (:olden I01lrnnd tht, rlide l rulr! w t l t cqunl ~l(srrivwciidx r ~ rlrdirat~ol.." ' I ' l ~ m polnr caituot I r . c.vtlrtrrawd, I,ecsu6c witntific and engineering work in industry emphasiees the team approach. The team approach frequently comes as something quite new to the young graduate just entering industrial work. Thus, he should cultivate his talents for human relations. ~articularlvfor warkine as part of a group. This starts with s&simp~e thihgs as letting the employer know what he is doing, helping his colleagues where and when he can, learning and accepting help from them, and maintaining and promoting good "esprit de corps." I suggest that if the young graduate is one of the new crop of noncanformists, he should direct his nonconforming to novel ideas, to brilliant new apprortehes to problems. Industry doesn't want sheep-but neither does it want clowns. Confidence is a subiect I feel comnelled to touch eineerlv. .. ~ i n m:*I IKPRPIII thrw IH 8ome w ~ w w nm w ~ en~ployem g almut xllrgrJ ~ I I H H egw I ~ I Iof ymwg pec.l~leic,mi~.g
