Part 15

The physical condition is more or less dependent on the mood, and to a great extent the mood is dependent on the condition of the body. The strenuous gait is seldom the best, and, of course, the extremely indifferent one is of little value. The best for the average man is one born of a quiet environment, with mind and body in a fairly restful condition, or still better, in a rested and fresh condition.

Concentrating Attention.

The quiet end of the day is almost as good for clear thinking as the early morning, especially if the day has not been overstrenuous and the activities have been gradually tapered off.

There are many instances that would seem to show that the strenuous gait is the best, but nearly all of these evidences are questionable. When finally simmered down, the good work done under high pressure is frequently due to latent ideas that were the product of quiet thinking. The mood and the dominant idea may be predicated as necessary.

As already stated, the habit of thought most favorable for the persistence of a single group of ideas is attained by the practice of switching the attention back to the desired subject.

This should be done at the opportune time. The subject should not be forced on a tired mind. It should not be taken in as a painful duty, but it should be made the one thing of interest. Really valuable results can only come along the line of the dominant thought. All other work lacks directness. It follows precedent to an unnecessary extent.

Interest Must be Awakened, Not Forced.

Another way of saying all this is that the designer must get interested in the particular problem, and he must have an interest that crowds out all other thoughts, even thoughts of similar work. It is useless, however, to say, "get interested in the work," unless we suggest a way to awaken interest. Surely, we know that interest does not come at mere bidding, and that it cannot be forced by hard work. But it can be induced by an easy process in a normal being, providing he has not already too firmly established a set of habit thoughts of another kind.

The normal being, by persistent intention, can establish the desired thought habits by returning the preferred group of ideas to mind. Interest is awakened by this comparatively easy process, and when a genuine interest exists, the actual work follows as a natural result, and it is a pleasure instead of a drudgery.

This is not intended as preaching in any sense; but only to bring to mind facts known to all, with the view of implanting these facts in the mind of the machine designer.

Some designers have done excellent work with no thought of psychological problems. But in this more strenuous age it seems best to take advantage of every aid to the desired end.

The intricacy of mechanism has reached such a state that new designers are almost overwhelmed with the mere thought of trying to comprehend the existing machines. But with the advance of the world of machinery, there has been a better comprehension of the working of the "thinking machine", and we must take advantage of this knowledge in order to win out. It is particularly needful now to study its most efficient use. We are getting to the point where mental energy saving methods should be used.

It is not necessary to go beyond the bounds of orthodox science for schemes for getting the best results from a given mind. We have known for centuries that men tend to habits of thought as well as action,--that thought habits are like ruts, and these are encountered wherever the mind travels, and these ruts bring the mind back to a certain central group or community of groups of ideas.

Establishing Useful Ruts.

The real secret of success is in establishing ruts of a useful kind, ruts with switches that may be operated by the mind at will, or that work automatically when the mind would otherwise wander.

Since even fleeting thoughts are germs of acts, it takes no great effort or self-torture if we will but understand the processes and smoke out the undesirable germs, and allow and encourage the growth of the preferred groups of thoughts. This may be called a lazy man's way of doing things, but it is the way to conserve the mental and physical energy, and it gets results.

In saying that the problems of the work in hand should come automatically and agreeably into the mind when there is a lull in the impressions being made by other things, it is not the intention to convey the meaning that one must have no other interests.

The mind gets its clearest view by the scheme already mentioned for creating interest, viz., by repeatedly bringing it back to the subject whenever it is found wandering.

The best view for invention is that which reveals the most natural way for accomplishing the purpose for which the machine is wanted. It should not be born of precedent. It should not follow the lines thought out by other designers.

It readily discovers the obsolete features in existing machines, features that were required in other days but have no use now. Such things remain there just because later designers have followed blindly.

All designers follow more or less. We have shown the great need of following the set habits of users, but we should make a distinct attempt to get back to nature; that is, to see just what is best for the purpose, and to get the most direct and natural means. If this is too much of a task, just hunt for the obsolete features. Above all things, we must not try to follow another's work. We too often follow unwittingly and to our misfortune even when we try to keep out of the rut.

Machine designers who have done original work will tell us that it is easier to do good work by striking out on new lines than it is to follow the work of others, or even to tinker over some of their own inventions of other years. It requires more ability to take up the work of another and change it, than to start out in some original scheme.

The machine builder knows that the success of any machine depends on the clear-sightedness of his designer and the oneness of purpose of all the heads of all the departments devoted to the construction, sale, and oversight of the running machines in the hands of the users. And last but not least, in these days of supremacy of specialization, he knows that success comes only to the largest group of men organized for this particular kind of work.

All Men are Human Beings.

One of the first things we learn in the works or office is that all men are really human beings. The second one is that the meanest one is only so because of certain physical or mental conditions that are the direct result of natural law. Usually it is not necessary to drag in heredity, for we find ample cause in his environment, within our range of vision.

As a rule, a good understanding of men insures a wholesome regard for them, while failure to understand the other fellow (or the equivalent, the failure of the other fellow to understand us) may bring out many things that make us feel that he is not one whose feelings or interests should be considered.

To any one that has had experience in the shop and a fairly well-rounded business and financial experience in this particular field of work, the other fellow is invariably a good fellow whenever there is a chance for a fairly complete understanding.

If we can accept this statement tentatively, and follow it up by a determined purpose to actually feel it, then we have obtained something by the royal process that would have otherwise required much time and perhaps some unpleasant experiences.