Einstein's quote on genius, and how it applies to my working life

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, more often known for his General and Special theory of Relativity and the famous equation, E=MC^2 (sorry, doesn't seem to be a good way to write the "2" superscript for "squared").

However, he also said, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." And that is the quote which I draw a parallel to my working life.

Thanks a lot to "Pro Blogger" Darren Rowse, from whom I learned this!

In today's working environment, many of us report to someone, and I'm sure a handful of us have staff or direct reports working under our organization. In an ideal world, most of us, as employees, seek to become the best in our own field, and receive the just recognition from our superiors. From the other side of the looking glass, those of us, as employers, would like very much for each and every member of the team to be a strong and dedicated contributor to the department's goals and objectives.

Alas, at times, reality can be far from ideal....

A decade ago, I got my first job working as a process engineer in a locally-owned semiconductor manufacturer. Knowing next to nothing about real working life in a factory, I can, by definition call myself stupid at that point in time. Fortunately, I had a good mentor and tutor, in the form of a very capable engineer by the name of Ng Chew Huang (Angie), who set me on the right path towards being an engineer. Not so much as telling me what to do, but HOW to figure out what to do. Also at that time was the incumbent General Manager, Matthew Ong, who was also very supportive. He taught me that a good engineer uses his hands, not just his head. With their help, plus the support of my fellow colleagues, I found that I quickly became good at what I was doing.

Fast forward to the present, in a new company (same field though - manufacturing discrete semiconductors), up until recently, I have made good use of my experience and affinity for technical stuff to progress in my career as an engineer (now under Product Development).

After a long time on my "home turf", I jumped forward into the unknown realm of management. Management, as opposed to Engineering, is a completely different ball game. Therefore, I am, by definition, stupid, once again.

Unfortunately, unlike my good fortune years ago, this time there were no Angies or Matthews to launch me off the management flight deck. I was on my own, in deep water, and no one was around to throw me a lifeline. Well, up until recently, but I really wished that she has joined very much earlier....

After a lot of self-effort, I have progressed significantly since my first foray into the management field year ago. However, to this day, my capabilities as an engineer still surpass by far my skills as a manager.

Coming back to the quote from the sleepy-eyes, fuzzy-haired scientist, if my net worth was appraised solely on my performance as a manager, I would, for now, come across as mediocre in the eyes of my colleagues. Worse, I may also start to actually believe that I am nothing more than just an average performer. Well, I can't change the way other people think or act, but if I myself believe this fallacy, then all hope is surely lost.

It's interesting to see how many people easily forget years of excellent performance, but never fail to pick on mistakes and faults time and time again.

Of course, in life, you should always put your best foot forward and capitalize on your strengths. Always do your best! If you're Tiger Woods, and have to challenge someone else to a game of your choice, would you rather pick Golf or Swimming? (I assume here that Tiger Woods is at best, an average swimmer).

If you're finding it hard to make heads and tails of your current job, you might be doing the wrong job. You are not the right person for the job! If your employer is unable to make you a better performer in your current field, then he should probably have better luck hiring someone more suitable and assigning you to do something that you can do really well.

We are all good at something, but people look at us and only see what they are looking for, or hope to find. Sometimes, you look so hard to find the gold that you don't see the oil field right in front of you...!

Just because someone thinks you're stupid doesn't mean he is right, just as you thinking he is stupid for thinking that you are stupid does not make him more stupid that he already is. Think about that for awhile...! :)

In the meantime, take the effort to develop other areas that need reinforcement. As you should not put all your eggs in one basket, do spend some time polishing your other skills, as you'll never know when you need to count on them. As skills need to be used to really hone them, it helps if you have some opportunity in your routine life to use your abilities to keep time from becoming rusty.

Be the fastest swimming fish that you can, and get the recognition you deserve. But it's OK to crawl out of the water and climb up a tree from time to time, when no one is looking...! :)