I came across a term I had not heard before this week – propeller head - which is jargon for someone who is exceptionally, perhaps weirdly bright or knowledgeable, especially in some technical field.
It is a characteristic of such people that they persevere with their views even though everybody else says they are completely wrong.
I had an example in work this week where something did not feel quite right to me in a series of documents that made up a contract proposal. So I checked all the contract documents again and thought I found something material missing. Oh no I was told it is definitely there, look again in so and so file. I checked again starting to doubt my own view. I looked through every part of the agreement again, but a critical document had definitely been omitted.
If you do think you are right about something in your professional life it pays to be persistent and pursue your concern even if everyone else involved thinks you are completely wrong. It may not be easy in the face of contrary views, but it pays to be a persistent “propeller head” if necessary and keep going until either you are proved right or it is established empirically that in fact you were wrong.
More often than not you will be right.
Albert Einstein, who would surely have been a candidate for the term propeller head had he lived in these digital times, said:
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Very much the right approach.
It is a characteristic of such people that they persevere with their views even though everybody else says they are completely wrong.
I had an example in work this week where something did not feel quite right to me in a series of documents that made up a contract proposal. So I checked all the contract documents again and thought I found something material missing. Oh no I was told it is definitely there, look again in so and so file. I checked again starting to doubt my own view. I looked through every part of the agreement again, but a critical document had definitely been omitted.
If you do think you are right about something in your professional life it pays to be persistent and pursue your concern even if everyone else involved thinks you are completely wrong. It may not be easy in the face of contrary views, but it pays to be a persistent “propeller head” if necessary and keep going until either you are proved right or it is established empirically that in fact you were wrong.
More often than not you will be right.
Albert Einstein, who would surely have been a candidate for the term propeller head had he lived in these digital times, said:
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Very much the right approach.
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