Industryweek 14730 Operations

A Little Operations This and Workforce That

March 4, 2013
This and that from workforce and operations journeys... Mistake-proofing Required: Wish I could get inside this plant and find out how such an error happened: 6K gallons of scotch accidentally flushed down drain.

This and that from my workforce and operations journeys...

Mistake-proofing Required: Wish I could get inside this plant and find out how such an error happened: 6K gallons of scotch accidentally flushed down drain.

You Majored in What? I interviewed a guy who owns a small manufacturing company. He was a philosophy major in college, although initially he entered school aiming for a biology degree. He now rebuilds, repairs and builds manufacturing equipment, a business that keeps him and his co-workers busy given the dearth of skilled workers in the maintenance arena. And he told me that some of the skills learned in philosophy are helpful in his current position...such as logic and working with people.

Coincidentally, I happened upon the degrees held by another CEO who works in a business that seems largedly unrelated to his major. (He's got a PhD in physics.) I think I'm going to go after him and ask the question: What have you taken from your physics background and applied to your current position?

And yes, I know all education is good education (at least I think so), but I'm looking for some specifics.

Who else out there has a degree (or other background) that doesn't seem to align with what you are doing now, but which in fact provides translatable skills? Is there another philosophy grad out there in manufacturing? And tell me how the skills translate.

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