After the fourth time I opened the book in less than an hour, a few words from the page seemed to jump out at me.
“It is a matter of ordinary common sense to plan working hours so that the workers can really “work while they work” and “play while they play,” and not mix the two. (p44)”
Have I really been so crazy as to mix work and play? Did I forget what I had just read the day before? Should I be on Facebook and have iTunes open while I am writing this paper? Whenever I think about it, I have always been taught to focus on what you were doing and to perform at the best of your ability. Since my dad was a practicing engineer, the ideas of efficiency, focus, and labor productivity were preached from a very young age. I just didn’t always listen.
As a young kid, my brothers would take me down our street to meet up with our neighbors for our weekly hockey game. Being the youngest of five children, I was always biting my three older brother’s heels to let me go with them wherever they went. One thing that was very hard for me to grasp, while playing sports with my three older brothers, was their ability to turn on and off their aggression and attitudes. What I did not understand is that they were focused on winning, achieving a goal. I was simply out there to have fun and learn from these educated men. Often times, I would fall down and scrape my knee. As tears rolled down my face, there were my once opponents and enemies now acting as my older brothers to help me.
This same fundamental on/off switch is carried over in all the sports I play. With soccer, before the game I try to calm my body and mind. I think about everything except soccer. But once the whistle blows to begin the game; all my focus, all my determination, and all my energy is put into a team goal to win the game. For me, work is a game. While I am playing that game, there is nothing that can distract me from accomplishing my goal. When the final whistle blows, there are no grudges held. The opposing players that I fouled and yelled at are the ones I am shaking hands with and sharing a laugh.
One way in which this quote is directly applied to my life is through my brother. Much like what Taylor talks about in the book, bricklayers are on a very tight schedule. There were many studies put together showing that more bricks were laid in 7 ½ hours than in 8 hours. The masons are given two 15 minute coffee breaks during their 8 hour shift so they can rest their fatigued hands. The employer will now be laying more brick per day, have a better work environment (workers receive two breaks), and will be overall more efficient.
My dad always tells me that I remind him of him. Although I may not always see what he saw, the same type of problems he faced are very similar to the ones I face now. He would always tell me how to do things better and remind me to “Focus on what you are doing”. There comes a time when one is to work and one is to play. The fine line that separates the two is often straddled unknowingly. To be successful, you must be able to control your focus. But in order to control your focus, you must first be focused.
Sam Luffy
3 comments:
I liked your topic, but I feel your argument is going in a million places. You introduce the quote and explained it in the following paragraph. Then you start talking about hockey... and I have no idea how that relates to work and play (also... i believe the expression is biting at my brothers heals... not biting my brother's heals). Ok, now you go into talking about soccer and an on/off switch... I can interpret that to be the work/play quote but that is after many readings. And then in the following paragraph you say the quote relates to you through your brother and then talk about Taylor and bricks. What?!
What I am saying is that I am having a hard time following the flow of your essay. I like how you are using many different ideas, but they aren't connected. Try relating the initial quote to every paragraph. That quote is your argument and you want to pound your argument into the readers mind. For example, While playing soccer, I combine what Taylor says with play while you play and what my dad says by staying focused on one thing. Once the initial whistle blows and the ball is kicked, I am focused on the game etc. Or something similar. Whenever you write something you want to make sure you link everything on paper...not just in your head because readers can't read your mind.
Try working on the flow and I am sure your essay will be much clearer and easier to follow.
After the fourth time I opened the book in less than an hour, a few words from the page seemed to jump out at me.
“It is a matter of ordinary common sense to plan working hours so that the workers can really “work while they work” and “play while they play,” and not mix the two. (p44)”
Have I really been so crazy as to mix work and play? Did I forget what I had just read the day before? Should I be on Facebook and have iTunes open while I am writing this paper? Whenever I think about it, I have always been taught to focus on what I was doing and to perform to the best of my ability. Since my dad was a practicing engineer, the ideas of efficiency, focus, and labor productivity were preached from a very young age. I just didn’t always listen.
As a young kid, my brothers would always let me take part in their sporting events. Being the youngest of five children, I was always biting at my older brother’s heels to let me go with them. One thing that was very hard for me to grasp, while playing sports with my three older brothers, was their ability to turn on and off their aggression and attitudes. What I did not understand is that they were focused on winning, achieving a goal. They were mature. I was simply out there to have fun. As you get older, there is a fine line between competition and fun. Whenever you want to play at a high level, you must be able to step onto a playing field and turn on your focus.
This same fundamental on/off switch is carried over in all the sports I play. With soccer, before the game I try to calm my body and mind. I think about everything except soccer. But once the whistle blows to begin the game; all my focus, all my determination, and all my energy is put into a team goal to win the game. For me, work is a game. While I am playing that game, there is nothing that can distract me from accomplishing my goal. When the final whistle blows, there are no grudges held. The opposing players that I fouled and yelled at are the ones I am shaking hands with and sharing a laugh.
Much like what Taylor talks about in the book, bricklayers are on a very tight schedule. My brother, who is a bricklayer, tells me how he is only paid for 7 ½ hours instead of 8 hours. There are many studies that show that a mason will lay more brick in 7 ½ hours (with breaks) than in 8 hours without breaks. The masons are given two 15 minute coffee breaks (along with a lunch) during their 8 hour shift so they can rest their fatigued hands. The employer will now be laying more brick per day, have a better work environment (workers receive two breaks), and will be overall more efficient. This is a great example of scientific management in showing that all parties of a company can be happy when the correct changes are made.
My dad would always tell me how to do things better and remind me to focus on what I was doing. There comes a time when one is to work and one is to play. The fine line that separates the two is often straddled unknowingly. To be successful, you must be able to control your focus. I have always been told to never half-ass anything, use my talents to the best of my abilities, and to always give 100%. After all, you never know when your gifts will be taken away.
Sam Luffy
Kevin - this is a good response because rather than trying to talk about every part of the essay, you focus on one thing and do it well.
Sam - the issue raised by Kevin is very real. Like him, I thought your discussion of sports was interesting; for what it's worth, I also thought your discussion of your brother had potential, as hurried as it was. But there isn't a real working argument here, and the two sections of the paper don't even connect in any obvious way.
Furthermore, your writing is based on vaguely Tayloresque ideas - you don't attempt to think through what scientific management actually *is* and how you, in turn, relate to it - you pick up a couple peripheral ideas and run with them without explicitly relating them to scientific management as a whole.
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