It was a hot dry dusty day in a small town – What you see may not be what you see – The Power Of Perception
What You See May Not Be What You See – The Power Of Perception
You May be an Engineer or an IT professional or from another discipline, But….. What You See May Not Be What You See – The Power Of Perception- can be ably illustrated in the following humorous story.
It was a hot dry dusty day in a small town, way out in the middle of nowhere. An old tramp was shuffling along the street, head bent and old tired eyes squinting through slits of eyelids. Scanning the pavement for old cigarette butts, coins or anything which could be of value to him.
Then out of the corner of his eye, glinting in the sun he caught sight of a Rolls Royce. He lifted his head and looked in admiration. “What an absolutely magnificent motor vehicle” he sighed under his breath as he stood back and became transfixed. He remembered all of the stories he had heard of Rolls Royce and their legendary luxury and engineering excellence.
It looked very new, it was highly polished and it shone. As he stood there admiring the vehicle, intoxicated by the sight, he saw a lump of mud near the front wheel arch.
A gleaming Rolls Royce
He thought to himself “a Rolls Royce, the most magnificent, beautiful vehicle in the world, I can’t walk past it, I must clean off that mud”. He pulled a piece of rag out of his pocket (which normally passed for a handkerchief) and he bent over at the side of the vehicle. Carefully he removed the mud and was just about to polish the area back to its original glory when the owner of the Rolls Royce stepped out of a shop and saw the tramp.
The irate owner of the Rolls Royce was not happy
He yelled for the man to get away and ran over to him.
The tramp stepped back and lowered his head. He apologized profusely, “I’m terribly sorry” said the tramp. “I didn’t mean any harm”. He explained how he was admiring the Rolls Royce, be best motor vehicle in the world and saw the mud and just couldn’t walk past without cleaning it off.
He kept muttering “Rolls Royce, the most magnificent motor vehicle in the world”
The owner was full of regret for misjudging the situation and he in turn apologized to the tramp for shouting at him.
He said “you’re obviously down on your luck at the moment, let me see if I can give you a little something to help you on your way”. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of loose change.
Amongst the handful of loose change were a couple of golf Tee’s.
The golf ball Tee was mixed in with a hand full of loose coins
The tramp had never played golf and had never seen golf Tee’s before. He looked at the open hand and pointed at the Tee’s. “What are those” he asked.
The man replied “Well, they are to rest your balls on when you drive off”
The happy owner was then able to drive away with a clean vehicle
The tramp sighed deeply and slowly shook his head in wonderment
“Well I’ll be stuffed” he said “Those Rolls Royce people think of everything don’t they”
There are three very important learning’s in this story
1 – Don’t jump to conclusions, wait until you know all of the facts
2 – Don’t assume – what is very obvious to you, may not be so obvious to others
3 – Don’t underestimate the Power Of Perception
Not Only – But Also…..
When there is a need to take a deep breath and take a break
- Looking for “A Better Way – ”Go to – Engineering the 3R Way for an overview of the 3R Philosophy Review – Refresh – Reset and link to the full list of topics
- Then Take A Break With the List Of Pages – Engineering Nostalgia for pages of Old Engineer Memories from Engineering practice in the 1960’s/70’s/80’s – with a bit of armed forces and medieval trivia thrown in
- Or check out Engineering Odd Bits for more odd subject matter – including humor and comment
- Challenge yourself and your colleagues with an Engineering Quiz