How To Change The World...: The 2012 IEEE USA Meeting Keynote
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Watch this presentation being delivered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumGjL_xduI This presentation was given at the start of the 2012 IEEE USA annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. The purpose of the presentation was to get the IEEE volunteers in the audience motivated to deliver more meetings when they got back to their sections and to get more members for the IEEE.
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How To Change The World...: The 2012 IEEE USA Meeting Keynote
- 4. George McClure • Sought to become the first elected IEEE-USA president • Served Region 3 director • Chair of the IEEE Life Members Committee • Chair and resource member for Career & Workforce Policy Committee • Tech policy editor for Today’s Engineer • Government relations editor for IEEE-USA in Action • Past chair of the IEEE-USA Communications Committee • Recognized in 1981 with elevation to IEEE Fellow • In 1997 he became an IEEE Life Fellow • Cited in 2004 for professional achievement • Received a 1988 regional professional leadership award • Received IEEE-USA’s highest honor in 1999, the Robert S. Walleigh Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award 1933 - 2012 • SoutheastCon 2012 event co-chair
- 5. I Want To Be Remembered Like George 62 Comments!!!
- 6. How Will You Leave Your Mark?
- 8. Why Are You Here? • Your life as a math equation: 20 + 45 + 20 = You • How will you change the world? • Impact without the IEEE? • Impact with the IEEE? • The IEEE needs you … … but you need the IEEE … Image Credit: Image: chrisroll / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
- 9. IEEE USA Is An Engine
- 10. What Do You Want To Accomplish? Your Name Read Watch out Obituaries for buses In The End, Friends Are What Really Matters You Are Not A Circus Animal
- 11. How Are You Going To Accomplish It? Commit To Customize Your Make The Most Delivering All 4 Of The Presentations Of This Conference PACE Modules In 2012 To Your Audience Resources Projects Members
- 13. Customize, Customize, Customize! Resumes & Cover Letters! Resumes & Cover Letters!
- 14. What If You Are Successful? 3 + 100 = $200 Dr. Norman Borlaug -- The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
- 17. What Do I Do Now? You
Editor's Notes
- WKRP was on the air from 1978-1982I grew up watching WKRP and my ultimate dream was to one day actually meet Loni Anderson. I mean, we both shared the same last name and so there was a chance, right?If, like me you’ve seen every episode, then you have to have one episode that is your favorite.I actually have two episodes that I can vividly remember even to today – 30 years later!1st: It’s drunk driving awareness week and the State Trooper comes into the radio station to demonstrate on the air how alcohol affects your reaction time. Dr. Jonny Fever is on the air and so he is the test subject. However, what happens is that his reflexes get faster and faster the more he drinks. The State Trooper ends up getting frustrated and starts drinking himself.2nd: Salesman Herb Tarlick goes into the hospital for some non-serious reason and station manager Andy has to act as salesman. Easy right? Andy screws everything up and Herb has to fix it all when he gets back.If I can remember things 30 years later, then watching WKRP changed my world…
- Sometimes other people can change our world for us.I had graduated and I went to work for the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation and became part of the team that was building the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 fighter jet. About half-way through my first week of meeting new people, finding my desk, and getting my first employee badge, I was confronted by an engineer whom I’ll call Rick, because that was his name.Rick worked in a very special engineering group, the weights & measures group. His department was responsible for determining how much everything that went on the airplane weighed. Everything. This included each and every bullet, drop of oil, rivet, and sticker that was on the plane. Rick had hunted me down because he knew that I was a part of the F/A-18’s Mission Computer group. He had one question for me: how much did the airplane’s computer software weigh? He knew that the computers came from the factory with no software on them. He knew that we then loaded our control programs onto the computers and then they were put onto the airplane. Clearly this software stuff must increase the weight of the computers and he needed to know by how much.You can imagine how flustered I was – I was being bullied by an idiot. I went to my boss who was a wise older engineer and explained the situation. I was hoping that he would have some way to get Rick to go away. I can remember seeing my boss sit back in his chair and start stroking his chin after I had completed sharing my tale of woe. He finally sat up straight and said “I’ve got a solution”.
- Now one small detail is probably required at this point in my story: this was back in the day that computer programs were stored on punch cards. You would type a line of your program on to a single punch card, put them together into a deck, and that was then used to load the computer. What my boss then did was an act of sheer genius: he went over to a computer card punch machine and printed out a complete deck of cards for the F/A-18’s computer program. Once this was done, he swept up the pile of little pieces of paper that had been punched out of all of the cards, handed it to me, and told me to go weigh it – that was how much we were going to say that the software weighed. I went to the mailroom, used their scales, and it turned out to be something like two ounces. I told Rick that the software weighted 2oz and then I never saw him again. To the best of my knowledge, the F/A-18’s technical specs still indicate that a computer with software loaded on it weighs two ounces more than an empty one!
- I live in Tampa Florida and so In IEEE speak, that means that I come to you today from Region 3.In Region 3 we recently lost one of our most valuable members, George McClure who passed on at age 79. I knew George and he was a great guy. He had lived a full life and he passed on at home. Although it is always sad to lose a friend, that’s not what I want to talk to you about today.Instead, if you and I want to change the world, then I would like to offer up George as an example for all of us to follow. Although George lived to be 79, it sure doesn’t seem like he really had enough time to accomplish everything that he did. He had a long an successful career in the Aerospace field, but that’s not what I want to talk to you about today. The reason is because nobody really remembers George for what he did on the job.Instead, what George is really remembered for is what he did as a member of the IEEE. If anyone has ever passed on in your part of the IEEE, you know what happens next. You get a bunch of emails that talk about what the person accomplished.When George passed on I started getting those emails. And they kept on coming. I started looking through them and George’s IEEE accomplishments went on and on and on. Look at all that he accomplished…What George McCluure is remembered for is not what he did while he was working, but rather for the lives that he touched while he was an active member of the IEEE.
- One of the emails that I received after George had passed on said that you could go to a web site and leave a personal remembrance of George.I can remember thinking to myself, “now who would do that? George is not going to be able to read anything like that”. This eventually bugged me so much that I found myself being drawn to visit the web site just to see what was up.Much to my amazement I discovered that 62 people had not only visited the web site, but George had made such an impression on their lives that they had felt compelled to leave a remembrance.62 people!I started thinking, if I dropped dead today and a web site was set up in my honor, how many people would visit and how many would leave comments?I checked with my wife and she assured me that she would both visit and leave a comment. However, I am suspicious that she would just list out all of the things that I had promised to do but had never gotten around to doing – sorta like getting the last word in.It became very clear to me that I had not yet found a way to change the world. George did and he’s my hero. I want to change the world just like George McClure did.
- So let me ask you: how are you going to leave your mark on this world?Getting somebody else to tattoo your name into their skin does not count.Rather, when your time is up and you’ve gone on, how will the world be different for you having spent your brief time here?This is not something that they teach us in school. You really can’t go out and buy a book titled “How To Change The World”However, we are all engineers and so this is exactly the type of problem that we’re good at solving: it’s big, it’s difficult, and it probably involves some math.
- We are engineers. This means that we stand out in a crowd.When it comes to finding out ways to change the world, we need to answer some fundamental questions.The first of these questions is if this world changing stuff is something that we can do by ourselves or if we need the assistance of others?This question is actually pretty easy to answer. If you think about other people that we know about who changed the world, how did they do it: Gandi, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill, and so on. They were great people, but it’s not what they did, but rather what they were able to get others to do that changed the world.Sorry about that wallflower engineers, if you are going to change the world, it looks like you are going to have to make it happen through other people. In fact, you’re going to have to make it happen thorough a lot of other people.
- Let’s do some math: your life can be broken up into 3 phases. It takes us about 20 years to become an engineer. We work for about 45 years. Then, with a little luck, we enjoy retirement for about another 20 years. What all of this means is that if you truly want to change the world you don’t have a lot of time left. You’d better get to work!If we can agree that in order to change the world, you are going to have to make it happen though other people, then think about the role that your membership in the IEEE will play. Try to imagine if you had never joined the IEEE. Think of all of the people you would not have met and the and events that you would not have attended. In fact, you would not be here today. What would you be doing instead? Probably sitting at home watching ESPN and drinking beer at 9am in the morning.Now think about all of the people that you’ve met by being a member of the IEEE. The things that you’ve learned by reading Spectrum. The events that you’ve gone to. You are a changed person because of all of this.It turns out that in the end, the IEEE really does need you to be a member. They need your fees, they need your participation. However, it also turns out that you need the IEEE – it provides you with access to people and events that you would not otherwise be able to take advantage of.
- As a member of the IEEE you need to realize something that the IEEE “Mother Ship” will never tell you. The IEEE is an engine.This engine runs on members. I come from Florida and I can tell you that, just like George McClure, we are always losing members when their time runs out. That means that each and every one of us has a responsibility to be going out and finding more fuel, more members, in order to keep the IEEE engine going. When that engine is running, it can cause great things to happen. This conference that we are at today is one of them. All of the lobbying on our behalf that IEEE USA does is driven by the engine. The reports and the student activities that are sponsored are also a direct result of the engine continuing to run. I’ve got a question for you: when you are at home driving your car, how low do you let the gas tank get before you stop in to a gas station and fill it up again? I’m a half empty guy – when that needle gets to the mid point, I start looking for a station. Unfortunately I married a “the yellow low fuel light turned on about 50 miles ago” woman.The IEEE fuel gage in the U.S. is starting to show that it’s time to pull in an refuel. Only 7% of the eligible engineers in the U.S. are members of the IEEE – that means that we’re running on fumes most of the time.
- If we’re going to change the world, then the first question that you’re going to have to deal with is figuring out what you really want to accomplish? Start reading obituaries: If you are already reading them, then keep on doing so. It turns out that obituaries are like little biographies, only they are shorter. The most important thing that you can learn from reading people’s obituaries is that the people who in the end accomplished the most, rarely lived orderly, linear lives. They had a lot of setbacks and those setbacks are what allowed them to accomplish what they ended up doing.Watch Out For Buses: Somewhere out there is a bus with your name on it. There is always a possibility that one day you are going to end up getting hit by this bus. What this means is that both you and I are living on borrowed time. Nothing is certain – not even tomorrow. Don’t take anything for granted. You always need to be asking yourself would I regret spending my life this way if I got hit by a bus tomorrow? Also ask yourself the flip side of that question: is that path that I’m on right now going to lead to a life that I’ll be happy with in 10 or 20 years – if I don’t get hit by a bus first?Friends Matter: Study after study have shown that in the end, the most important factors involved in happiness and well-being are your meaningful connections with other human beings. Here’s a tough question for you: how many of the people that you associate with you today were there 10 or 20 years ago, how many will be still with you 10 to 20 years from now?You Are Not A Circus Animal: Your boss is the only person who will throw you peanuts to get you to perform. You should aspire to do better. You have many different roles and keep in mind that even though you may not get peanuts in these roles, they may be more important in the long run.
- Wanting to change the world is a great thing to desire. Figuring out how you are going to accomplish it is another question. The very first thing that you need to do is make the most of this weekend. The conference has been divided up into 3 tracks and that means that you’re going to have to do some picking and choosing. You can’t go wrong with any of the sessions that you attend, but you are going to need to make some decisions. Pick the sessions that are going to help your PACE section out in 2012 and in the first half of 2013.Next you are going to have to make use of the resources that you already have. The good folks at IEEE PACE HQ recently sent you an email that told you about 4 “seminars in a box” that they’ve put together for you. Please join me in placing your left hand over your heat and raising your right hand. Repeat after me “I commit to delivering all four of the PACE modules that have been handed to me on a silver platter during 2012”. Ok, now put your hands down.Finally, if we’re going to change the world, then we’re going to have to connect with our audience. What this means for you is that you are going to have to take a very close look at just exactly what you’ve been given in each of the PACE modules that you’ve been handed. Each module includes recorded Webinars, Powerpoint presentations, Ebooks, and Articles. You have the basic building blocks of a successful PACE event, now all that’s left for you to do is build a great session.
- Just because we are engineers does not mean that we always make the right decisions.When it comes to putting on one of the 4 PACE events that we have been provided with, we may think that we can just “grab and go”.You couldn’t be more mistaken…
- I’m an engineer, but I work in marketing.What this means is that I am in a unique position to help you out in making sure that your next PACE event is a success. Remember that the more people that you can attract to your PACE event, then the more people that you’ll be able to talk to about joining the IEEE and that will help keep the IEEE engine running.The materials that the IEEE provides you with for the four PACE modules should be considered to be unsigned gift cards. They are nice, but until you personalize them they won’t really mean anything to the people who show up for your PACE events.You are a member of your local IEEE section and what this means is that better than anyone else in this world you know your section members: their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their desires.What this means is that you need to take the PACE seminar materials that the IEEE has provided you with and transform them into a seminar that will appeal to both the members of your section and the potential members in your area who might want to join the IEEE.We don’t have enough time today to dive into how to go about doing this; however, I’ve taken the time to take a stab at it and try to show you how the “Resumes and Cover letters” PACE module could be enhanced in order to appeal to a wider audience.I don’t know exactly what is going to appeal to the members of your section so I went ahead and made a backup copy just in case you thought that you needed a different version.
- Dr. Norman Borlaug saved more lives than anyone who has ever livedBorn in 1914 in rural Cresco, Iowa.Educated in a one-room schoolhouse.Saved the lives of one billion human beings.He developed hybrid crops bred for disease immunity.He also developed cereals that were insensitive to the number of hours of light that they got and so they could be grown in many climates.During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, an American farm could produce 24 bushels of corn per acre. By 2006 the figure was about 155 bushels.In 1965 famine struck India and Pakistan. Both countries had been relying on subsistence cultivation of rice.Dr. Borlaug arranged for a convoy of 35 trucks to carry high-yield seeds from his offices in Mexico to a Los Angles dock for shipment to India and Pakistan.He and his assistants traveled with the seeds only to find out that war had broken out between India and Pakistan. Sometimes working within sight of artillery flashes, Borlaug and his assistants sowed the first crop of the high-yield grain. Within three years of Dr. Borlaug’s arrival, Pakistan was self-sufficient in wheat production and within six years India was self-sufficient in the production of all cereals.In 1970 Dr. Borlaug won the Nobel peace prize for his work in ending the India – Pakistan food shortage.
- With all of this talk about changing the world and in fact with me showing you exactly how you can go about doing it, I’m a bit concerned. I’m concerned that you just might become too full of yourself, you’ll be too big for your britches.I’d like to wrap things up by sharing with you one last highly embarrassing personal story. This picture of a driveway is very similar to the driveway that I had on my house when I lived in south Florida. Now there was one small problem: I had weeds growing up between the paver bricks. There are many ways that I could have solved this problem such as pulling the weeds or even spraying them with something to kill them, but I am an engineer and so I decided that this problem needed to be solved once and for all.My plan was to purchase some sand and fill in the gaps between the bricks. No gap would mean no weeds, right? I got out the yellow-pages and found a lot of companies that provided sand. I called one up and they asked was how much sand did I want to buy? I really had not given this question too much thought so I hemed, and hawed and finally they said that they sold sand in yards. I thought about my driveway, and it was a big three-car driveway, and I said that I though that I needed a lot of yards. It turns out that a truck of sand in south Florida is really quite cheap and so I ended up buying the entire truck which I believe contained only 3 yards of sand.
- I was home when then truck showed up and dumped the sand.It turns out that when the sand company talked in yards, they were talking about a 3-dimensional yard of sand. I had been thinking in terms of a 2-dimensional yard of sand. Needless to say, I got a lot more sand than I had anticipated. Of course the sand was dumped at my request on the driveway blocking both of my cars in the garage. To add insult to injury, it turns out that it really does not take that much sand to fill in the gaps between paver bricks – two bucket fulls would have taken care of most of the driveway. For the next week, I spent hours every day shoveling sand and then trying to hid it in other parts of my yard.The lesson from this story is that even if you are getting ready to change the world, engineers always need to double-check their units!
- I’m almost done, but before I wrap up, let’s talk about you.If you really want to be like my friend George McClure and change the world, then you’ve got to get busy – time’s running out and you’ve got a lot to do.You can make a difference and you can be remembered long after your time on this planet is over.The first thing that you need to do when you go back home is to hold more PACE meetings. Simply by committing to take this first step you’ll have a positive impact on the lives of your Section’s PACE members.The second thing that you need to do if you want to change the world is to make sure that every person who comes one of your PACE meetings is presented with an opportunity to join the IEEE. Your meetings will provide yourself with an opportunity to reach out to people who are interested in attending your meetings but who are not yet an IEEE member and remember, they are the fuel that will keep the IEEE engine running for a long time.Finally, you need to change the world. By being involved in the IEEE and making sure that your Section’s PACE group is active, you will have made it possible for you to do this. Congratulations, the world is yours to change…