Keeper of the Knowledge Mentality 4

[sam74]

I was just curious if to see if anyone else had similar experiences in the past or now for that matter.

I started in the field doing surveying and construction inspection for about a year an a half in the mid to late 90s. When I came back in the office (a 50 year old full services consulting company) only very few people had limited access to the internet.

It appeared as if all the older guys had rat holed all the information they could in order to be the go to person or only distribute it as they saw fit. That is what I mean by "keepers of the knowledge". Job security was my reasoning behind them doing this.

Well a few years down the road and everybody has internet access and access to much if not all the information. There went much of the "keepers of the knowledge" job security. I know that a lot of these guys have lost their jobs in the recession. I have also twice now.

When I do have opportunities to interview sometimes I can't help but wonder if the guys interviewing me are some of the leftover "keepers of the knowledge" who are scared that I've got field experience and can do my own design.

One in paricular was on my first layoff. I applied for a civil designer position because that was what was posted (I've got a PE). I got a four hour interview meeting amongst several different people. The first and most important would be my direct supervisor who had been there 15 years and had a civil designer doing his design. I explained that I could design and stamp my own work and I think I scared him off.

Any thoughts on this rambling post?

 

[philmech]

It's not only the new guys that just want the answer. I know several engineers who have been working in our profession for many years that can't explain to you why they did something. They give answers along the lines of someone told them to do it that way, they borrowed from a previous design, or that is the way it has always been done.

 

[jmw]

Ah, yes, Philmech, the well known "man and boy" syndrome.
Frightening.
The "man and boy" attitude is one of the main reasons why some companies do not advance.
At one company I worked for, they were waiting for the day Old Joe retired so they could institute some changes. Trouble is that as often as not the conditions which lead to that solution haven't applied since they invented the wheel but no one now remembers why they do it that way and no one wants to take the time to find out.




JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[KENAT]

At the same time, thinking outside of the box every now and then is a very good thing.

However, a lot of the time the box is there for a real good reason.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[FeX32]

Let's hope the "box" is there every night


Fe

 

[btrueblood]

Oh...brown star for that one Fe.

 

[TDAA]

Really btrue?

Bringing up the "brown star" when the "box" was already pushing it?

 

[FeX32]

HAHAHAHA!
We all love "brown stars"


Fe

 

[berkshire]

philmech and jmw
Some years ago while working at a large defense contractor, we had a series of lectures about overcoming " Man and Boy syndrome" I do not know that they did much good, but an interesting story was told about a person cooking a roast, and was used as a horrible example.
The story goes that a man noticed that before his wife put the roast in the pan, she cut about an inch of meat off the end of the roast. Her husband asked her why she did that, she replied that she did not know, but that her mother had always done that. The next time the man met his mother in law he asked her about the practise. She replied that she did not know, but her mother had always done it.
Some months later, he was on a visit with his wife to see her grandmother in a nursing home, and he thought to ask her the question, The answer came back " My meat pan was too short, I had to cut the end off to get the roast into the pan."

If you feel it is inappropriate please feel free to delete it.
B.E.

 

[jmw]

Exactly!

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[jmw]

Monkey see. Monkey do. Monkey no think.


(how this got posted elsewhere is beyond me but here is where it was intended to be.)

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[kacarrol]

I have ran into a couple of people that had been branded KoK's in my work place. I found out quickly that if I tried to answer my own problem (ie read the code) and then went and asked them pointed questions the flood gates opened. They were all too happy to share the information as long as I wasn't looking for the spoon fed version (or quick answer).

It's kind of bad for my hoarder personality though...I have a massive number of books now, drives my movers banana sandwich when I switch residences ;-)

I do see why some of you just give them the fish now. It's hard to get your work done when everyone comes to you with their questions.

K

 

[MikeHalloran]

I don't believe that anyone is born a KoK.

It's a conditioned response behavior, and in a particular environment can result in a long career.

It only becomes unsuccessful as a survival strategy when a _serious_ effort is made at change of the environment, _from_above_.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Sparweb]

I try to act like the "librarian" when it comes to engineering data.

But try not to think of me as a bespectacled old lady with her hair tied up in a bun!

I'm the one who takes the time to sort through the useful stuff and set it aside in "findable" places on the computer network, I'm the one who has a big stack of books on the shelf by his desk, I'm the one who's looked through enough of it that usually I can think of a few resources when someone asks about some odd topic out of the blue.

Which is basically what you expect a librarian to do.

I also expect my books returned in a reasonable time!


Steven Fahey, CET

 

[PeterStock]

Do you charge late fees?

Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services

http://www.infotechpr.net

 

[Sparweb]

That reminds me - the boss hasn't returned the biography of Steve Fossett, which I loaned him 6 months ago. I should try to squeeze a 1/2 vacation day "late fee" out of him!

Steven Fahey, CET

 

[berkshire]

SparWeb
You can try, but I do not think anybody on this forum would guarantee success.

B.E.