|
My father, who is 86 this year, taught me many things when I was growing up, and even after I was grown. He taught me that respect for myself came from the respect I gave to others. He taught me to fish. He taught me to think quickly and act slowly. But, the most important thing I learned from him was how to approach a problem that faced me. I didn't know he was teaching me that, but he taught it anyhow.
After flying B-17s during WWII, he returned from overseas to a wife and a six-month-old child. So, instead of pursuing a career as a pilot, or continuing his education, he fell back on his youthful experience as an auto mechanic, first working for a Plymouth dealership, then eventually opening his own auto repair shop. He was very successful at this, as he was at most things, and successfully raised three children and got them into adulthood without any huge problems.
The reason for his success as an auto mechanic was that he was probably the best diagnostician of problems with automobiles I've ever known or heard of. He almost invariably diagnosed the problem successfully the first time, and very quickly, then turned to the repair. It's a more difficult thing to do than you'd think.
As a kid, I spent a lot of time in my father's shop, particularly during the summer months, doing odd jobs around the shop and hanging out with the old man. I remember one day especially well. A man had come in with a car that he had taken to several shops, none of which had been able to fix his problem. He had spent a good deal of money on repairs that didn't correct the problem. I can't remember exactly what the problem was, but that's not the point.
My father listened to the man describe the symptoms and what the other shops had done. He then asked the man a couple of questions. Then, he drove the car around the block. He told the man to give him a few minutes, then went back to work on the job he had been working on. After about ten minutes, he came back and told the man he could repair his car for him, and told him what he proposed to do. The man left the car, and my father repaired it later that afternoon in about an hour. He phoned the man, who came and got his car, paid my father, and became a customer of his for decades.
After the man left, I asked my father how he knew what was wrong with the man's car, and why the other mechanics hadn't been able to fix it. I was 13 years old, and this was really the first time the question had occurred to me.
What he told me that day changed the way I thought about almost everything. Essentially, here's the gist of what he said:
"Every time a car comes in here, it has some sort of problem. If I can correctly figure out what that problem is the first time, I'll make a good living repairing cars. If not, I'll waste a lot of time. So, I listen to the customer describe what the car is doing. Then, I'll think about what he or she said for a minute. During that time, I'll build a mental list of all the things that could cause those symptoms. Next, I'll ask the customer some questions that will help me eliminate some of those reasons. If necessary, I'll test drive the car, so I can experience the problem for myself. After that, I'll think some more, testing each thing that could cause similar symptoms against all of the factors I know about. Most of the time, I'll be able to eliminate most possible causes very quickly, and narrow the field to just a couple of likely causes. Eventually, I'll have eliminated all but one cause. At that point, I'm ready to say what needs to be done. I can do that whole process while continuing to work on another car, because actual repair work doesn't require all my attention, and I'll still be earning my pay by continuing to work on another car. If I think carefully and consider all of the possibilities, I'll be right about 90% of the time."
"A lot of mechanics are good at changing parts or doing the work of auto repair, but they don't think long enough before starting to work, or don't know enough about how things actually work to reason through a diagnosis. Then, they do something that doesn't correct the problem, usually because they decide what's wrong before actually knowing what's wrong. They waste their time and do unnecessary work. It's always better to analyze the situation carefully, be sure you have the correct answer, then work on that. It saves time in the long run."
Although I didn't realize it at the time, the process my father described to me was basic critical thinking. It turns out that the process he used to diagnose problems with automobiles was the same process needed to figure out almost anything. Listening, questioning, testing, analysis, elimination of incorrect answers, and decisions based on logic turn out to be the keys to solving most problems. Later in my life, I realized that he applied that same process to almost every decision he ever made. I try to follow that example myself. I doubt I'm as successful as he has been in his life, but he taught me that process that day in his auto shop, just by answering a kid's question.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
