Blog
Competence and Likeability
MOMENTS THAT TRANSFORM US.
We must be good and look good.
Competence allows us to do a good job.
Likeability allows us to make an impact.
When I started my professional life, my first job was as Quality Control Engineer in a production plant for detergents. I was also responsible for quality improvement projects. During my first weeks at work, I realized one of the recurring quality problems occurring in the production happened in a specific equipment, where often the detergent powder formed hard lumps, like rocks, which could only be removed from the pipes by the operators using big hammers.
I took a lot of time to observe the process and imagine what could happen inside the equipment. During my university time I became quite skilled in working with glass to design and prepare installations to run our chemistry experiments. So, I decided to mimic the process copying every piece of equipment in glass, in a reduced scale so that we could see in a totally transparent process in the laboratory what was happening in the production plant.
I managed to generate hard lumps in the glass installation at the lab. It could be seen that the hard lumps were formed due to a lack of stirring in a corner of a tank. I then changed the geometry of the beaker mimicking the tank to ensure a full stirring of the mix, and the lumps disappeared. I shared this with the Process Department manager who agreed to order a new tank with a different shape and the production problem was eliminated. Pretty impressive for a new hire fresh from the university.
I was so proud that I called the plant manager and showed him what I did in the lab and how it led to eliminating the production problem. He said “good job” to me, then turned to the Process Manager and asked him why we needed to wait so long for a new hire to solve that long lasting quality problem.
As you can imagine, the Process Manager was not so happy on how I had communicated what I did, without having him given the chance to prepare before talking to the Plant Manager, but at the end he also congratulated me for the job well done. I then apologized as well to the Plant Manager for not having been elegant with the Process Manager. He smiled and said we all learn from our experience how to do better next time.
This was a great lesson to me about competence and elegance. We need competence to perform our task with good quality. We need elegance to fit in and be liked by our environment, realizing that we do not live in isolation. And we need a learning culture where execution mistakes are forgiven because it is learning what matters most.
If you like the story and think it could help someone to give a good impression of a job well done and so making a bigger impact, please reshare this post to let others read it. Thank you.
“If you want to start your personal success journey to achieve top results in alignment with your values while living a happy life, I can powerfully support you. Schedule a free personal consultation with me.”
If you want to receive my Newsletter with interesting articles and perspectives about how to reach your goals faster, with less effort and stress, please Register to my E-Mail list.
Large Call to Action Headline
Free Newsletter
About Me
AGUSTIN RAMOS
Agustin is a leading coach and mentor for managers and entrepreneurs. He helps them overcome all challenges, achieve top results with their company in line with their values, grow personally and live a happier personal life.
Copyright 2024 by Agustin Ramos. All rights reserved.