Author: Reed Gardner

A Universal Connection

For my exercise on empathy, I decided to take Dan Pink’s advice and test myself. I chose to do two different tests that he suggested in this chapter. The first was the “Spot the Fake Smile” test and the second was the “Mind in the Eyes Test.” The first test was obviously a test to see whether or not you could spot a fake smile. The test displayed short video clips of 20 different people smiling, and the objective was to determine whether the smile was genuine or not. Each clip could only be viewed once, and so I had to make a judgement based on my first instinct. This test actually proved quite difficult and I scored 12 correct out of 20. For most people it really is hard to determine the difference between the genuine and fake smiles, as it is really only a slight difference in the way the person’s mouth and eyes move during the smile.

The next test I took, the “Mind in the Eyes Test,” was a test to see if you could determine the facial expressions of different people only based upon seeing their eyes. There would be a picture such as this:

and then four answers. At first I thought this test was going to be extremely difficult. I thought “How am I supposed to tell what these people are thinking by only looking at their eyes?” But in all honesty, after taking the test  it really wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. For the picture above the choices were: “apologetic, friendly, uneasy, or dispirited.” Take a few seconds and see if you can figure out the answer. Rather than trying to analyze it in depth just go with your gut feeling, it usually is right. (The answer for this particular picture was ‘uneasy.’ Did you get it right?) I ended up scoring a very respectable 27 of 36 on the test. It seemed that, despite what I thought, the harder test for me was the first one about spotting the fake smiles.

Taking both of these tests was quite beneficial for me because it made me think about things that I would normally just take for granted. When I see someone laugh or smile, I never really think about whether it is actually genuine or not. And when I see someone’s facial expression, I generally just know how they are feeling or at least I can get a good idea of what they are thinking about. It was strange to actually take a test to see how good I was at doing these things that happen all the time during normal interactions with other people. Dan Pink wrote about how people all over the world recognized facial expressions all in the same way. This fact that people just inherently know how each other are feeling amazed me when I really thought about it, and it shows that we all can show empathy towards one another without even really trying.

PS- If you would like to try these tests yourself you can find them here:

Spot the Fake Smile - http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/

Mind in the Eyes Test - http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/Faces/EyesTest.aspx


No More Excuses

This week’s reading in Dan Pink’s book was about Meaning. What he said in this chapter really made me think about what I am currently doing with my life and if I am really going in the direction I would like. One of his exercises was to imagine yourself at ninety years old. Although this is not the exercise I chose to do, it still made me think. When I’m ninety I want to be proud of what I have accomplished during my life, not disappointed because I did not pursue my passions. I want to look back and tell myself that I did a good job and that I stood up for what I believe in and didn’t make excuses. I thought the excuses part was really important, so I decided to analyze certain things in my life right now that I am constantly making excuses for using Pink’s “But Out” exercise. The first part of this exercise is to come up with a list of things that I would really like to do but usually have an excuse for:

  • I want to get a good GPA, but Georgia Tech is a very difficult school.
  • I would like to work out at the CRC more often, but I am always either too busy or too tired.
  • I would like to go to church more often and grow spiritually, but I usually have too much work to do and don’t take the time.
  • I would like to be more efficient in doing my work, but I easily get distracted, especially online by things like Facebook.
  • I would like to earn a lot of money and be successful in the future, but I do not have a college degree.

Next, I went back and replace the word “but” with the word “and.”

  • I want to get a good GPA and Georgia Tech is a very difficult school. So I will need to work extremely hard and not make excuses for myself in order to accomplish my goals.
  • I would like to work out at the CRC more often and I am always either too busy or too tired. So I will go to bed earlier and make a schedule of times when I am going to work out and stick to it.
  • I would like to go to church more often and grow spiritually and I usually have too much work or don’t take the time. So I will set apart some time to go to church and work the rest of my schedule and homework around that.
  • I would like to be more efficient in doing my work and I easily get distracted, especially online and on Facebook. So I will need to make myself focus on homework and studying when it is time for that and then allow myself to go to other sites after my work is done. It would also probably be a good idea to not have Facebook set as my homepage.
  • I would like to earn a lot of money and be successful in the future and I do not have a college degree. So I should work my hardest to get my degree in the shortest time possible (without killing myself) and get out into the professional field.’

After turning my excuses into problems that needed to be solved, it was actually quite simple to see how I could avoid making these excuses and go forward with doing what I intend to do. Now the real test is sticking with these goals I have made and not just taking the easy path out and continue with excuse-making. I believe that if I set my mind to it, it will be possible and I can accomplish these things that will add more meaning to my life.


Bottom of the Ninth

After reading Dan Pink’s section on Story, I decided to try out his exercise about writing a “mini-saga.” This idea seemed intriguing, as the objective was to write a short story using exactly 50 words. Although at first it seems like an easy task to write a such a short story, once you really get into it, it becomes much more difficult than you would think. Just trying to come up with a topic that an entire story can be written about in 50 words is somewhat difficult. Actually writing the mini-saga is even harder. It is necessary to introduce the topic very quickly, lead into a climax, and then end the whole thing just as quickly as it began. After a few tries and some playing with the words to get it down to exactly 50, here is what I came up with:

Bottom of the ninth, they’re down three runs. Two outs, bases loaded. Full count. The windup, the pitch. Here it comes, he loads up, turns, and swings. Crack, it connects perfectly. Long fly, deep center, has a chance. Its going, still going… Gone!!! Its outta here!!! Grand Slam, game over!

This whole exercise was quite rewarding and forced me to be creative and think about what things are really necessary in a story. When you only have 50 words to use, it is important to reduce everything to the essentials. The same story could easily be twice as long if you were to include every detail and use complete sentences every time. Although concision is important, you still want to keep it interesting so that the reader does not get bored. The reader should know that it is a story, not just some dull newspaper article.  I think it would be very interesting to have multiple people write a mini-saga about the same topic and see what each person comes up with. I’m sure that they would all have different ideas of what the “essentials” are and their stories would be completely different.


Sooo tired… need sleep…

Probably like the majority of you, I routinely do not get enough sleep. This morning when I woke up I was, like most mornings, extremely tired and didn’t want to get out of bed. I’m sure all of you can relate to this feeling. Lots of times this feeling seems to last forever, and I don’t have enough energy during the day and only look forward to going back to sleep once my work is accomplished. This really is a terrible way to go about a day. So, for my homework assignment I decided to research some tactics for having more energy and feeling less tired and employed throughout the day today. They really did help, so if you find yourself feeling drowsy in the near future (which I’m sure you will), try them out. Here is what I found:

Everyone always tells me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but still I regularly skip it in order to get those few extra minutes of sleep. According the articles I looked up, this is a really bad idea (all of them agreed on this point). Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, especially when it comes to feeling energized. It helps to jumpstart your metabolism and even can help you to feel less stressed out. Drinking water throughout the day, including at breakfast, also helps to keep you active. Dehydration is one of the major causes of fatigue and so 6-8 glasses of water per day are recommended.

Another piece of advise I found was to drink less caffeine. I know this goes against common sense, but from what I read, this is one of the best ways to feel more alert for a longer period of time. Having that coffee, Monster, or Redbull might seem like a good idea at the time and certainly will give you a spark of energy for a while, but it will also make you crash later and you will feel more tired than you originally did. Additionally, when you drink a lot of caffeine on a regular basis, your body essentially builds up an immunity to it, and so you need to drink more and more to get the same feeling. So instead of drinking caffeine to wake up in the morning, try to focus on getting those 7-8 hours of sleep at night and you feel better and be much more alert during the day.

I also found that a really great way to feel less tired is to exercise regularly. Usually the last thing you want to do when you are really tired is go work out, but it actually will increase your energy levels quite a bit. Getting your body moving through exercise increases the speed of your metabolism and will also help put you in a better mood. Lastly, it is a good idea to eat smaller meals and snacks throughout the day rather than three large meals. This is another way to keep your metabolism going and will help you avoid the feeling of being too hungry or too full.


Industrial Engineering: Professional Interviews

The industrial and systems engineering program at Georgia Tech is ranked #1 in the nation and has been the top program for over 20 years. This is due to the quality and dedication of the professors who continue to make Georgia Tech’s ISyE program the premiere one of its kind. I am very excited to have the chance to interview some of these outstanding professors.

Dr. Leon F. McGinnis is a professor and the Eugene C. Gwaltney Chair in Manufacturing Systems at Georgia Tech. He is also the founding Director of the Keck Virtual Factory Lab and serves as Associate Director of GT’s Manufacturing Research Center. He has helped to develop programs at Tech that are not only IE-based but also focus on a well-rounded interdisciplinary education.

Dr. Valerie Thomas is the Anderson Interface Associate Professor of Natural Systems in the school of ISyE. Her research is very interesting as it deals with the efficiency and sustainability of different materials and energy. With the new push for alternative energy sources, this area is very important and could lead to some great new discoveries.

Dr. Jeff Wu is an ISyE professor at Georgia Tech and holds the Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics. He has done research in many fields including engineering, statistics and business. His work on business and quality has been cited in many journals and magazines, including a special issue of Newsweek. He has also served as the editor of many statistical journals and has published over 100 articles in the journals.

Some of the questions I may want to ask of these professors include:

  • Why did you choose the field that you are in? What interested you about it?
  • Did you ever have any doubts about your major choice? Ever switch fields/majors?
  • How relevant is your degree to the work you are currently doing?
  • How has your field changed since you began working in it?
  • What changes have you had to make? How have you adapted?
  • Do you enjoy your daily work or do you have more of a “just get it done” mentality?
  • What major projects are you currently working on?
  • What do you see as the future for industrial engineering?
  • What are some different career paths that IE majors generally take?
  • What are some necessary skills that IE majors should have?

Professional Profile

Currently I am an undecided engineer, so finding influential people in my field would be somewhat difficult. Undecided engineer isn’t much of a profession and so I decided I would choose professionals from one of the fields I am most interested in, industrial engineering. I am not entirely sure if IE is what I will ultimately end up choosing, but I figured researching some influential individuals in the field would help me to become better acquainted with the major and help me with my choice.

One of the most influential and talked about industrial engineers in the field today is Timothy Cook, CEO of Apple. He has been in the news lately surrounding the death of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Cook was made CEO only recently in August 2011 after the resigning of Jobs due to pancreatic cancer. As CEO of Apple Cook is now responsible for nearly all of Apple’s day-to-day operations as well as many major decisions that will need to be made by the company. With the passing of Jobs, Cook will have an extremely important role to fill in making sure that Apple runs properly and continues the on the innovative track it has traditionally been following. Steve Jobs was a cultural icon and although Cook is not expected to fill his shoes, he has a monumental task ahead of him in making sure that Apple remains as one of, if not the top company in computer and technology innovation.

Another major industrial engineer in the field today is Erin Wallace, the Senior Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The reason Wallace’s job is so important is that she is responsible for all of the daily operations at the Disney parks and resorts. With the tens of thousands of people that visit Disney theme parks nearly everyday, this is a huge task. She is responsible for making sure that everything in the parks runs efficiently and smoothly. The Disney parks really are an industrial engineering masterpiece with how smoothly they run and how many people they are able to get through the parks in such a relatively small amount of time. Without someone like Wallace overseeing this process people would wait in line for hours at a time and Disney parks in general would just be a mess.

One of the most important engineers ever, although obviously not around today, was Henry Ford. Ford was the inventor of the first car in 1893 and started the Ford Motor Company, still in existence today. His major contribution to industrial engineering proper was the famous assembly line. The assembly line remarkably reduced the time and effort required to build one of Ford’s Model-T cars. This was an engineering marvel, as it was the first time that a commercial product was not assembled by hand, and allowed for mass production. This feat revolutionized nearly every industry where assembly of a product was needed and improved efficiency and cost effectiveness dramatically.


What To Do Next? The Indecisive Engineer…

I’m going to be completely honest. At this point in my career I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. Unlike some people, I am not one to just dive head-first into something and hope for the best. I suppose in some sense this is a good thing. I would much rather take my time and analyze things before I make a decision about them. I don’t usually like to make plans, and certainly not ones that likely will affect a large part of my future. Nevertheless, I am certainly open to different ideas, and I generally just like to go with whatever life throws at me. I consider myself a person who can easily adapt to new situations and overcome obstacles that are put in my way. However, I usually take my sweet time in doing so.

As a kid my family always told me I had an engineering mind, and in school math and science were always my strong suits, so naturally I was drawn to engineering school. As my college search began, I looked at many top engineering schools, and GT was one of the places that really caught my eye. After I received my acceptance letter I was very excited, but still was not entirely ready to commit myself to going here. Only when I finally came down here to visit during my senior year did I realize this was the place for me. Then, as my indecisive nature would portend, I became an undecided engineer.

This is still the situation I am in right now. Although Georgia Tech is a very difficult school, I am enjoying it and know if I work hard a degree from Tech will lead me to great places. I am very interested in both the study abroad and co-op programs here. I would love to study abroad in another country, particularly Australia and New Zealand, as I have wanted to visit there since I was young. As for co-op, I am planning to take full advantage of Tech’s excellent program, as it will both allow me to get professional experience as well as try out certain fields to see if my career choice is really one that I will enjoy.

However, before I can go about these different programs that Tech has to offer, I do realize that I soon will need to declare a major. Although I am not sure yet what I want to do, I really just want to be successful and happy and therefore am ready to put my full effort into whatever it is I do end up choosing.


Are we really that awkward?

Last Friday our group met to discuss the final aspects of our project. Although we still have some work left to do, we made good progress and finalized our plans for the conclusion of our social experiment. Our project is primarily focused around the topic of social awkwardness here at Tech. So far, we have done experiments such as sitting with random people at dining halls and asking people to do crazy things for baked goods. We are planning to do another baking session and likely some interviews with students in the upcoming week, in order to get a better feel for how students react in certain situations. Our plans have worked well so far, but we would like to add a few more aspects to our project to let the audience get a better feel for what we are trying to accomplish. If anybody is interested in helping us with this it would be much appreciated. All we would need is for you to answer a few simple questions about what you think about relationships between men and women at Tech. We want to know how real students feel about the infamous ratio, general awkwardness, and if it is all as terrible as many people make it out to be. So if you feel inspired, please comment below. General comments related to the subject are great, or if you want some specific questions we can certainly provide some. We would love any feedback you might have to offer. Thanks.


Crazy Cartoon Captions

In his chapter on Play, Daniel Pink discussed many of the different aspects of playing and how we have fun and enjoy things. The part that most impressed me was the section on humor. He argues that merely the act of laughing can have a huge impact on nearly everything we do. Dr. Madan Kataria certainly agrees with Pink and has even started his own laughter clubs to promote people getting together and having a good laugh. Dr. Kataria believes that laughter can “improve our health, increase our profits, and maybe even bring world peace.” Bringing world peace through laughing seems a little far-fetched to me, but the basic idea that a genuine laugh is a good for you does seem to hold some legitimacy. That is why for my Play project I chose to come up with my own cartoon captions. The New Yorker holds a weekly caption contest, where readers try to come up with the most inventive captions for a certain comic. The other readers then vote on the best one and it gets published in the following weeks newspaper. I decided to give this weeks cartoon a shot:

“Does he seriously want us to play musical chairs?”

I will let you be the judge of whether this caption is newspaper-worthy or not. Regardless, coming up with my own caption was a very fun and thought provoking exercise. When you just read through different comics like this it is hard to appreciate how difficult it is to come up with a caption that is genuinely funny. It took me a few tries at this before I actually got a caption that fit the mood of the comic and was at least (in my opinion) somewhat funny. I encourage anybody who is up for a good challenge to try out this exercise, as it really does make you think outside of the box and gives you a nice sense of accomplishment when you are finished.


NFL or JFK?

For my Symphony project I chose Pink’s idea of “Follow the Links.” I thought it was a great idea to start with something I am interested in and then just search and explore. As tonight was the first NFL football game of the season, I went to Wikipedia and search “football.” Football is a vast topic and means different things to many people in different parts of the world, so this first article was very large. Eventually I followed the link to the origins of football in “Ancient Greece.” From there I went to Sparta, to the Battle of Thermopylae, to the film 300, to Gerard Butler, to James Bond, and finally to John F. Kennedy. Afterwards, as I reminisced on the sites I had navigated, I noticed a similar theme in all of them. They all had to do somewhat with action/violence, which likely stemmed from the original topic of football. One of the most interesting things I discovered during my search was that the Bond film, From Russia with Love, was likely the last film JFK watched before he was assassinated in 1963. This exercise was a lot of fun and really displayed to me how there are many connections between seemingly unrelated topics; I just need to “search” them out.