I recently had occasion to see a DVD restoration of Frank Capra's classic 1937 film Lost Horizon. It has aged, but it still exudes the charm and charisma of that time. These are qualities that are all too infrequent today. Of course, the movie also has Ronald Colman, who was marked by the dignified restraint he brought to the role.
The qualities of restraint and dignity are not hallmarks of present-day Hollywood, nor of our era in general. In fact, they seem to have been forgotten all together. It is a time of unrestrained violence in word and deed, both on and off the screen.
A number of countervailing examples from the manufacturing world deserve our attention. Foremost is W. Edwards Deming. He clearly walked in greatness, and yet with utter humility. He could describe the chain of manufacturing in one breath and compose a heartfelt hymn in the next. Another was George Devol, who invented the industrial robot, among other things. George talked about his discovery in the most matter-of-fact way, and without a trace of overweening pride. To him, it was part of his job as an engineer; enough said.
Ted Hoff, the creator of the microprocessor, saw his role as helping to make things better for day-to-day manufacturing operations. He was not given to bragging, just quiet accomplishment. One of the inventors of the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), J. Presper Eckert, did his job as an engineer diligently, and, sadly, without great reward. When he talked of the ENIAC it was with simple words and no claims to fame or chest beating.
The real hero may well be the quiet hero. It helps to remember the example of the single woodsman who, while people all around were panicking during a raging forest fire, calmly axed down the trees in the fire's path and saved the day. He did this by dispatching one tree and then moving on to the next. It was a pure case of composure in the face of histrionics -- an example of how simply a problem can be overcome if one just keeps doing the right thing.
In this era of Enron, failures by FEMA, waste in space, and decline of infrastructure, this kind of poise appears harder and harder to come by in the U.S., and probably in the world, for that matter. There is plenty of expended energy and bravado. There is almost always more than enough of that to go around.
The nation, its businesses, and manufacturing in general need to be guided by those who keep their perspective, who keep their temper, who maintain a vision of the priorities before them.
The challenge is to move ahead with the most appropriate action. We see this in sports very often. Fielding a hard-hit ball, a first baseman's energy is directed toward getting the ball safely into the mitt. It is not playing to the crowd but playing to the ball. And doing this time after time, simply because it is the right course of action.
I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's writing. He didn't learn to write by composing the Gettysburg Address. He did so by writing roughly 10,000 legal cases over the course of many years. The incredible skill came from the concentration involved in the mundane and humble activity, not from the glory of being President.