I often save the second post of the day (if I do one, as I usually do Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) for pointing you somewhere interesting in the blog space. I can't do better than today's note from Bob Sutton's Work Matters.
Bob recently wrote an interesting post about whether the Big 3 automakers deserve the proposed bailout they're requesting. Check out his post, but more important is a comment from a reader who dreamed of designing cars, took an internship at one of the big three and found a culture that was broken, protective and unable to get out of it's own way.
It's a tale of generations, the failure to upgrade personal skills, the downside of organized labor and bureaucracy, all conspiring to create a stale, protective culture. Judge for yourself:
"Ever since I was a kid, my childhood dream was to design cars. I showed a natural proficiency for mechanics, so I majored in mechanical engineering and received undergraduate and graduate degrees at MIT and Stanford respectively. While at Stanford, I signed up for a summer internship with Ford at one of their plastics plants in Ohio. The recruiter told me I would get a full hands-on experience in manufacturing. Instead, I spent 3 months being the group’s typist because I could type documents on a computer at 4x the rate of the other old boys there. That’s how they used an eager engineering grad student. Still determined to chase my childhood dream, I decided to extend my internship another 3 months when I found a position to work at Ford’s HQ in Dearborn in their chassis engineering group. There, I saw the reality of the culture. White collar workers who are there purely for a paycheck, not to make something great. The thought of working late was inconceivable, because work can always wait, but their need to veg out at home could not. There was no concept of actually having better quality than the Japanese and no emotional response to always being ranked below a competitor. To sum it up, everyone was completely satisfied and comfortable with mediocrity.
Union workers felt that having relatively high pay, low skill jobs (where pay was based purely on seniority and not on ability) was a right, not a privilege or reward. When I was testing brake rotors, I was told I may not touch any tools or perform any work myself, as this would threaten job security of union workers, so I ended up doing a lot of waiting for someone to turn a few bolts.
I also quickly realized that there was no path towards promotion for me as an American born Asian. When I was introduced to someone, I could see the stress in their face for fear that they would not understand how to pronounce my name or understand my thick accent. Then relief to find out my name is “Joe” and I have no accent.I went back to Stanford to complete my master’s degree, and have been working for high tech companies in Silicon Valley ever since I graduated. My original childhood dream was crushed by the reality of Detroit, but I have since found great satisfaction working at companies that have created technologies that are in computer and consumer electronics products that you are probably using every day to make your life easier, more productive and more enjoyable."
I've got friends and readers at the Big Three, so I'm the first to say there are uber-talented people in Detroit. Still, that's a credible sounding, unsolicited comment from a reader of Bob's blog. It's also a lost talent opportunity for Detroit. If the bailout happens, I look forward to the day when this type of individual will have a different view of at least one of the Big 3.
Your post is a good illustration of why an internship program should be well thought out.
Sure there a smart and talented people at Ford, however, recruiting talent is key to keeping that new blood flowing.
How a company handles new hires, says much about their values.
Posted by: Nancy King | December 02, 2008 at 10:10 AM