Agree absolutely!
I discourage people in my office from iPod listening as I intentionally
group my team together so the less experienced can hear how the senior
folk work and the senior hear if/when the less experienced make mistakes
on the phone etc.
I can't work with music on as I am a 100% engrossed type person. When I
worked at Bob Meadows office, there was a great guy there who listened
to Charlie Parker etc a lot and I could not get anything done with that
on - it requires 100% of my head to listen to it and I could not focus
on anything else.
I know people who ride bikes and ski with iPods. Can't do it! Gotta hear
the trail under my tires and the gears shift, or when skiing, hearing is
incredibly important to gauge edge on the snow.
Wood work is the same nuanced endeavor, actually more.
Eric Hammarberg, Assoc. AIA
Vice President
Thornton Tomasetti
51 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
T 917.661.7800 F 917.661.7801
D 917.661.8160
[log in to unmask]
www.ThorntonTomasetti.com
-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Leeke
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 11:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] Our Incredibly Precious Trades Heritage + mobile phones
> On another note (John?)
> what is y'alls' thoughts on cell phone activity on the job site?
Cell phones? Just like iPods and boomboxes, these devices are
distractions from the work. The obvious distraction is that while
fiddling with the phone the work is not getting done. But there are more
important issues.
I have noticed that some of the best craftspeople and artisans I have
worked with need and used the audible connection with their work to make
the work better. If the carpenter can hear and listens to the
ssssssssnick, ssssssssssnick, sniiiiickKKK of the wood shaving passing
over the steely edge of his hand plane he can use that connection to
know more about how the work is going, know perhaps when to shift the
angle of the plane, or when the edge is getting dull. Subtle but
definite improvements to craft work can be made through the ears. In my
own work this has been true since I was a kid.
Some will say their music gets them in the "zone" with the "flow". Their
music may make them feel better while they are doing their work, but it
is a disconnect from the work. They make get some good work done while
listening to something else, they could get better work done while
listening to the work.
I know of one case where a worker saved his life when he heard a subtle
creak for the scaffolding just before it failed, while the worker right
beside him who was wearing an iPod lost his life. Of course I do not
know that his happened BECAUSE of the iPod, but I do know that I will
never wear an iPod while up on a scaffold.
All else equal, I will select a worker who listens to his work rather
than an iPod or cell phone, and have sometimes actually used this as a
selection technique.
John
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