Talent vs Skill

[roo_ster]

I read this in the comments at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/let-the-accounting-games-begin/39231/
which discussed how insurance companie sare restructuring their accounts due to the HRC law.  It seems that they are reacting in ways that seek to preserve profit and minimize risk to the greatest extent possible! <gasp>

Anyways, this comment in the thread I thought pithy:

An even slighter correction:
Skill is a commodity, talent is not; The difference is
that talent tends to make itself unnecessary, by solving
a problem, and skill is in permanent demand, for
producing a good, or providing a service.

An example would be the conversation between Henry Ford
and the Efficiency Expert he was reluctantly persuaded to hire.

HF: Well, what do you think of my plant ?
EE: I wouldn't change a thing, except for the guy in the corner office, who spends all his time with his feet propped up on his desk, staring out the window; Him, you should fire.
HF: That man once had an idea which saved me $1M; As far as I am concerned he can stare out the window until he retires.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I like that a lot!

Boise Cascade ran a door and window plant in the 60's and 70's in springfield va. biz was great they wanted/needed to double production.  a team of young experts show up to size up the problem and male plans and recommendations . the plant manager was a hill billy from wva who got his training in the army corps of engineers. they took over and spent 2 weeks analyzing and figuring.  never sought any input from the current management staff.  came the big day where the big shots showed up to hear the plan. they didn't even invite the site managers but one vp brought ray the hillbilly to the meeting anyway. the did the who charts and slides deal . had all the bells and whistles artists renditions cost estimates etc. total was several million bucks and these young men were prouder than a three balled tomcat with themselves. the vp saw ray sitting in the corner and asked him what he thought "will this plan work?"  the young men were kinda smug  like what could this yahoo have to offer  we went to ivy league schools he just went to vietnam.  rays one of them aw shucks slow talking great big boys.  he said "well i think that will work." and the boys were real smug " but you don't have to spend all that money"  they gave the educated contemptuous look then. "whay not just put on a second shift to double output? no buildings or tools  just hire some more folks and train em  we could double in 6 weeks not 6 months" boys were right quiet then but the vp wasn't. he asked "did these men even talk to you about this plant?"  "no" he had ray leave and you could hear him chewing ass for a while

[RoadKingLarry]

Corporate definition of "Expert" - Someone from out of town.

[230RN]

I see crap like that all the time.  I spotted  a 12 V circuit diagram once designed by some highly educated genius to indicate when a fuse was blown.  Must've been fifteen components in it to sense when the current was flowing through the fuse and when not, in which case it would light a warning LED.  Even had a multivibrator in it set up as a flip-flop, feeding to yet another transistor to turn on the LED.

Geeze.

All you really have to do is put an LED* across the fuse with a limiting resistor.  Two components.

Two.

Count 'em.

Two (2).

Works great.

Terry, 230RN
________
* For higher voltages, a neon bulb with a limiting resistor.  When the fuse is OK it has essentially zero resistance, which means no voltage is developed across it when the appliance is on.  When the fuse blows, its resistance goes to essentially infinity, which means the full supply voltage appears across it.  So the LED (or neon bulb) across it lights.

[zahc]

Obligatory xkcd:







I particularly like the Arduino "just for blog cred"

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

on the flip side it can be very humbling if you are the "expert" and pull a move like that. i had a girl who worked for/with me once . schizo crack head.  had been ther a decade when i started as chef.  never allowed to do more than plop food on a plate on a serving line. i was short handed one day and asked her to help. she was huge  samoan type huge  6 maybe 6'1 250 size 13 shoe. i had very low expectations for her. as we started working i noticed some things. if you've been in a trade a long time you can spot another pro. and i was spotting one i kept raising the bar and she kept clearing it. turns out she'd spent a bunch of time working some good hotels too  till the crack and mental illness took over.  we made some changes to her work responsibilities and her pay . and as happy as that made her i was the big winner. interestingly enough i had to fight her union to promote her. i am also grateful althea was a forgiving soul.  she was also a truly outstanding mom. another one of life oh shoot moments for me was finding that her daughter was a bright well adjusted extremely polite in an old school way lil girl.  i almost squandered a tremendous resource and was just dumb luck that saved me.  taught me a good lesson that has served me well since  this lady was so strong she lifted me over her head one time easily

[S. Williamson]

she lifted me over her head one time easily

Samoans do that. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

she was great   work wise they called her my pet but she was one of those folks who was right on the edge. all she needed was just a lil help to fall off the edge on the good side. and i can assure you i got more than i gave in the exchange. it had an unintended side effect too.  she rode the 30 bus up from se dc to work. there were a lot of the secretaries and support staff at fannie mae from across the river and down the hill. it did not hurt my relationship with that very powerful demographic at fannie mae to be seen as her mentor. and fannie mae was very political.  when they kicked aramark out i was the only manager asked to stay

[230RN]

zahc , I looked at that diagram for a full three minutes and it evoked a laugh every ten seconds!

Hilarious!  Thank you.  Cleared 65 cc of phlegm from my lungs.

Izzat thing in the lower left corner wun uh them there new fangled fractal antoonies?

cassandra and sara's daddy, that was a charming story.  Made my l'il ole hard heart all soft and squooshy.  Loved it.

Terry, 230RN

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

"666 Timer"

 

[230RN]

^ Yeah, that was one of the 10 second guffaws.  Another was the moral rectifier.

[coppertales]

I should copy that schematic and send it to my brother.  He is supposed to be an engineer.  Quite a few years ago he and an engineering bud were going to design and fly an ultralight airplane.  When the big day came, I showed up to help.  I took one look and replied "it will never fly".  After some dirty looks and comments, they proceeded to taxi it out for take off.  It did not go 10 feet before the landing gear broke off.  It never flew......chris3

[MechAg94]

On the other side of some of the stories, one of the stories I heard when I first started working was a bunch of process operators went on strike at a big chemical plant.  Apparently, they brought all the engineers and whoever else to try to run the plant.  After the strike was over, the plant only hired back a fraction of the operators because they had automated parts of the plant or realized they didn't need so many people to do the jobs. 

In the context of the OP, you need both types of people.  You need people who know how to work the system and keep it running smoothly.  You also need the people who can see ways to improve the system or change it around to make it work better.