The Fix-It Man in the Manufacturing Shop

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of “Flow” and other wonderful books wrote about an industrial shop worker he interviewed. He tells about the worker as being a wonderful example of his concept he has termed Flow. This worker’s single responsibility in the shop is to fix machinery that is malfunctioning or broken.

Rather than this worker becoming upset at a broken piece of machinery, he actually becomes focused and intrigued. When interviewed, the worker says that he finds each malfunction as a challenge. Its an opportunity to investigate what is wrong and fix the problem. The more difficult and challenging the problem, the more this worker focuses on the situation.

Mihaly relates this to the efforts of such workers as auto mechanics. He found that the best auto mechanics are typically very quiet when they are at work. They are completely focused on the work at hand. They tend to lose track of time and become “lost” in the task at hand.

I would like to suggest that this attention to the broken machine mentioned by the industrial shop employee is Exactly the same thing that Vajrayana Buddhist talk about when they teach the approach to our own problems and obstacles.

The fix-it man does not experience disappointment or anger. He is only focused on solving and fixing the problem.

I have recalled this story when something in my house has broken, like a toilet. Toilet repair is not one of my specialties. But rather than getting upset at the situation, if I can see the broken toilet as an opportunity to face a challenge and successfully solve it, then I end up finding the repair job enjoyable.

So to when we are faced with other malfunctions in our life, we can make the problem an opportunity to focus in on the situation. We put our attention on problem at hand and take action the best that we can. There are no negative thoughts r emotions, just excitement about the opportunity to get to work.

For me this is part of putting Buddhist teachings into practice at during my daily life. There always seem to be plenty of opportunities to “practice.”

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff