SOME PERSONAL ASPECTS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHAPLIN TYLER
Development Department, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
There are just 2 0 years on which a chemist or chemical engineer can count for his success. Even this short time is divided between getting himself on the right track and then going places when he is on it. Personal development, as the key to professional progress, is the means of advancing, and the author here outlines some aspects of individual personal planning aimed toward maximum use of abilities. THE welter of large-scale postwar I Nplanning, the importance of individual personal planning readily may be overlooked. Yet, now a t the beginning of the Nation's greatest period of constructive effort, the way is open to each chemist and engineer to contribute as never before toward a better life. Unfortunately, but not without good reason, our schools emphasize the tangibles in professional training to the practical exclusion of the intangibles. I refer particularly to the importance of planning a career and the consideration of certain nontechnical factors affecting the realization of such planning. Open discussion of the subject, it is hoped, will lead to greater individual achievement with consequent enhanced stature of the profession as a whole. The typical chemist or chemical engineer is graduated from college at 22 t o 23 years of age. This means an active professional life of 37 to 43 years, assuming compulsory retirement at 6 5 and optional retirement a t 60. Let's assume, as an approximation, that the graduate will have 40 years of active service. However, he need not be concerned immediately with the last 20 years, since as a general rule progress made in the first 20 years foreshadows subsequent progress. Accordingly, the 20 years from age 22 to 42 should be utilized to the utmost. Failure to heed this generalization will result in getting "off the beam", and getting back is much more difficult than staying on. The exceptions are so rare as to be news. The first 2 0 years in turn, may be divided into t w o 10-year periods: the period of establishment and the period of growth. Considering first the period of establishment, requirements for satisfactory progress m a y be formulated as follows: 1. T h e right start. A great deal has been said b y employers, personnel ex-
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perts, and educators concerning the selection of employees. However, from the point of view of the prospective employee, the selection of an employer is vastly more consequential. Although the trial-anderror method is extensively practiced, it is wasteful. Common sense dictates that not many false starts can be made without losing priceless years. Fortunately for the chemical profession, the largest employers of such talent are companies whose past and present achievements and future prospects are largely a matter of record in the business and technical journals and i n reports to stockholders. Such information may be supplemented by reports which come to t h e colleges from former students. Careful investigation and weighing of job opportunities are certain to be time and effort well spent. 2. Patience. The American s y s t e m of formal training, a s applied t o the 4-year college man, comprises 16 to 17 years during which progress is recorded by annual or semiannual promotion. H e goes on the academic "production line" at 6 and comes off a t 22 or 23. Little wonder that the typical graduate becomes restive w h e n in his first few years in industry he can't measure progress in terms of "A's "B's", and "C's", and in terms of frequent, regular promotions. His only mathematical measure is his paycheck, which according to the psychologists always is 15% less than the recipient thinks is deserved. However, assuming he has confidence in bis employer, his chief concern should be not about any apparent lack of progress, but whether he is turning out a 1 0 0 % + performance on each assignment a s i t comes along. His worst enemy often is impatience. 3 . Getting the job done. Satisfactory performance is a greatly prized quality. It can be summed up in three words: accuracy, thoroughness, and promptness.
CHEMICAL
Spectacular performance is not expected; neither is it necessary. T h e million-dollar ideas and brilliant execution may come, but they originate from a minority. For the majority, getting the job at hand done is the thing that matters. It m a y mean designing a heat exchanger, operating a n acid plant, or selling a carload of solvent: whatever i t is, someone will be chocking o n the performance, and with each check a plus, minus, or just so-so impression is registered. It is analogous to the mathematical process of integration. T h e boss is the integrating mechanism, and a man's performance consists of numerous "dx's" and "dy's", which upon integration yield a result which means something to t h e boss if not always to the man. 4. Mastery of personal relationships. Getting along harmoniously with people means being able to work with persons of all ranks and walks of life so that an atmosphere of mutual regard prevails. It means settling difficulties as much a s possible a t one's own level, without burdening the boss; he has his own difficulties. I t means, in the large organization, maintaining a delicate balance between team effort and individualism. In the small organization greater versatility is called for, though this does not necessarily mean greater freedom. 5. The objective viewpoint T h e scientist is taught t o be objective in his thinking and to rely on facts. This is one teaching from which there should b e no divergence, however great the temptation Often the facts are meager or are n o t readily at hand. But that does n o t justify expansive speculation, at least until reasonable diligence toward fact-finding has been exercised. As tangible evidence of progress in t h e first 10 years, the chemist should find that his salary affords a n adequate living standard; that h e has earned t h e confidence o f associates, subordinates, and supervisors; and that h e has attained either a strategic position for line advancement, or a staff position, where, even though working a s an individual, he is dealing with t o p management with all the advantage such contacts afford. From then on, the factors previously discussed continue to apply, although continued progress in the second 10 years requires increasing attention t o these further factors:
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ENGINEERING
NEWS
1. Mastery of t h e art of expression. Expression is the link between thought and action. It is the medium of salesmanship and administration. It is a reflection of personality. What a letdown when the chemist turns in a sloppy report or makes a floundering speech! It is embarrassing to all concerned. It is a well worn road to business obscurity. Mastery of lan guage is gained by reading, writing, and speech, quite as much after schooling as during it. 2. Mastery of economic principles. Without an understanding of economic "law" no man can do abroad-gaged execu tive or engineering job. How to figure and interpret costs, prices, and profits is a big part of top responsibility. The chem ist or engineer who is not interested in the economic side of his work virtually limits his future unless he be a "genius" in evensense of the word, and only several in a thousand can qualify as such. 3 . Mastery of trade knowledge. For a while, the chemist can "g*·; o y " q*y-t; well with only a smattering of \ n,
