Sometimes, these Letters are inspired by a title that flashes through my brain. This is one of them. When I first thought of this title, I admit I was thinking of the industry I work in and the discipline I studied in school¹Two of the seven times I went to college.. The industry is aviation and my discipline is Electrical Engineering.

But then, of course, I started thinking of the OTHER meaning of the word discipline and the OTHER meaning of the word industry. Online it says discipline can be the practice of teaching to someone to behave by the rules or a code of behavior²I like to think I can choose the rules I will follow and then I can hold myself to a code of behavior that I find to be the best. In truth, most of the time I fail to achieve my idea platonic form of following the rules. And yet, I think the act of trying is worth something.. The other meaning of industry is simply hard work.

The thing is, unlike most people who go into aviation³And there are many ways to work in the aviation industry, I had no real interest in planes. Or flying. When I was in high school, I was sort of interested in taking the extra physics class that completed your ground school for your private pilot’s license. The desire was more to take the extra physics class than to be able to fly. I was 19 years old the first time I got on a plane. I didn’t like it then, and I still don’t really like flying commercially now⁴Yes. I know I fly a lot.. I don’t like the sensation of flying because my body feels a bit compressed and my brain a bit distressed. I am afraid of heights. Being in a plane is not comfortable for me⁵Even when sitting in Saga Class! in part because it is so public. So why have I made my career in aviation?

Pure dumb luck. It was the first real job I got as an engineer. But, it wasn’t in Electrical Engineering. The job in aviation introduced me to the magical world of Systems Engineering, and I fell in love with yet another engineering discipline⁶See, there is that word again.. So I stayed. It isn’t that I was passionate about making things fly, but I did become passionate about making things efficiently and earning money doing it.

But, the alternative meanings, hard work and self correction, do they relate to my working world too?

Sort of⁷The answer is always, “Yes, but…” or “No, but…” if you haven’t noticed..

In fact, I find that hard work is its own reward, although it is true I have been lucky to have insight into how to apply my hard work for benefit to me and my little universe. How to apply your hard work so it has the most effect… that, my friend, is discipline. 

I know discipline falls out of favor in our culture. There is a feeling that self restraint can be bad as external limits to the potential of where you can go. I disagree. Discipline is how you use the least resources for the most gain and increases the potential at a given cost.

In logic, arguments are reduced to a series of premises. I have a preference for the premise, “All A are B,” over, “Some C are some D.” That was the root of my unhappiness working for OldBoss. Sometimes is not as pleasing to me as always.

OldBoss worked very hard. He worked ALL the time. I tended to feel like I was not doing enough because he did so much more than I did. I applied my core value of hard work, but in truth, I didn’t do it to the fullest extent I might have. My problem was that I couldn’t see where to place the lever. I couldn’t see where my hard work would make a difference, because his hard work would always make the difference. He was the boss. My work was sometimes valued. Sometimes seen. And sometimes, my hard work was annoying to him. I started thinking the problem was the industry I was in. I didn’t love it, so my industry in the aviation industry was not very effective. I missed working in my discipline, so I didn’t have the discipline to go the extra mile⁸But I did still try to go the extra kilometer..

The problem with All A are B is there is no room for the subtleties of life. There is no room to take a moment where I do not apply discipline and still get a positive outcome. In steady state, even if it is not the case that All A are B, there is this wonderful thing that happens where a small Not B does not lead to a Not A. You just kind of recover and keep maintaining.

I think these thoughts about industry, and industry, and discipline, and my discipline, are surfacing because I am not as comfortable as I wish I were in my shiny new title. I wouldn’t say I have imposter syndrome⁹Yet, but I am encountering some stumbling blocks. And so, I think. And while thinking, sometimes, I discover an insight that changes the landscape I am thinking about. It didn’t happen this time, but I can always hope for a future revelation.