That is exactly what I'm trying to teach him. I do like the topo map idea though!
We spend our adult lives gathering knowledge in order to master our chosen
skill set. And if everything goes
exactly right, then we get to pass all this
along to our offspring, nieces, nephews, and/or the next generation members
who become our virtual extended family members. Congrats on getting
to do the Dad & lad thing. (As a girl dad, I got to to the Dad & lass thing,
equally good. :0)
Anyway, I've found that the secret to training as a mentor is to figure out what
hooks are inside their head so that I can hang my knowledge on those hooks.
For example, there are a few individuals who can learn counterintuitive abstractions
with little or no effort. (Nikola Tesla, Einstein, etc)
On the other hand, the majority of us are 'concrete' learners. You know,
learning about chemistry, not by grinding through complicated formulas...but
instead by making those baking soda & vinegar volcanoes as a kid. :0)
And the more senses that were involved during the learning process the better
the long term retention, for there are simply more paths with which to travel back
to those memories later on. (The rhythmic sound of hand sanding, the unique trill
of the DA on air power, the smell of freshly mixed bondo, feeling that
slight ripple that you can't see for the 1st time, and seeing others
admire your work at the show & shine & feeling that sense of
accomplishment.
...but I digress. When I find myself trying to do the Tom Sawyer thing
on someone unfamiliar with body work, I just talk about knocking down
the hilltops & filling in the valleys. They immediately get it.
But if I then just use multiple coats of the
same color primer & they
have yet to master the art of feeling for the errors with the palms
of their hands or tips of their fingers then it just builds frustration
for them.
But by alternating primer colors in a pattern (red, black, gray,
repeat as necessary) and showing them how to also read the contour map
while still using the hilltop & valley analogy, they get it. Which is good,
for working blindly on something that takes as long as good bodywork is
like taking a cross country trip in a car that has no windows --
it just seems even longer. And worst of all, sometimes we miss
the destination. You know, looks perfect in uniform gray primer, looks
like I hate this hobby when it's in shiny color coat & my flaws are frozen
in time for all the world to see... :-(
And then, after a full day of working at it & they are starting to see
the progress that they are _s l o w l y_ making, that's when you
explain to them over an ice cream cone that the ultimate is to have,
say, all red primer showing, and then with a single swipe of the block
sander it turns all black, and
that is
truly straight, they will usually
ponder that for a moment & start laughing out loud -- simply ridonkulous!
And if you can get someone to laugh while learning something new...
that will be remembered forever. (!)
I can't believe how much time I have wrapped up in it so far. Also, how the frick did I use a full quart of epoxy primer on just the rear doors? Granted that was both sides but still...
Time is the Constant & Quality is the Variable = what we normally get, especially from the collision repair joints = work we don't want to live with. Stuff gets sold.
Quality is the Constant & Time is the Variable = what
you are doing = work you want to live with. Stuff gets kept. (insert golf clap from the GMT400 gallery here. :0)
A couple of final observations b4 I go. First, the worst way of teaching real people
is to sit 75 of them in a large hall & have someone lecture them using verbal abstractions
and boards filled with equations with no context to help them assimilate the info & then
turn it into a useful skill. (Beyond passing a test.)
At the other end of the spectrum, the best training always has been & always will be
the Craftsman/Apprentice real world, concrete learning method. (!) So why is college
so expensive? And why would anyone with a clue think that people who have learned
a trade from a Craftsman is someone to be looked down upon? I simply don't get that.
Second, the only Equity that *I* believe in? Sweat Equity. And that's why I like
this forum so much. Page after page after page of people taking something beat
down or unreliable and turning it back into a thing of beauty / beast of burden that
earns it's keep.
Good stuff. And please say Hi to your kid for me. Some dude in the finger lakes
region of upstate NY thinks he's pretty cool for working with his dad. (!)
