"aren't being given the challenges" nail on head.
Almost but understandable, they are avoiding the challenges and taking the easy road and missing the lessons learned when taking on with a passion. I worked at a small factory. I had like 12 positions including shipping and recieving.
I was the circuit board tester and we used templates "flat plexiglass drilled to test with". Well they were all on 3 shelves and it took almost 20 minutes to find one of them.
Well one day I was walking to the office to ask where they wanted me to cover for on orders since I could do a dozen machines or acid baths. Well those templates had been bugging the fuck out of me. I knew if I asked I would be told no "cheap not seeing profit of spending a little to gain a lot". I had an old heavy desk. There were like 3000 of these with old masking tape with marker to ID them quick but most were faded totally.
I got a marker , roll of tape, and then picked them up 20 at a time and put them around my desk on the floor. I then started sorting them like cards by 100's so a pile of 0 to 100 another of 101 to 200.
It was like sorting books in a library to me. I was 3/4 done and my boss asked what I was doing wasting all this time. I showed him and promised him if he let me take another hour to finish it would save him money as in more than it cost for paying my low pay to do this.
I finished and these were stacked with the newest high number ones on top and I would sort the 100's piles as I was about to put them on the shelf so they were all in order. So like cards on edge in a 10 ft long row/shelf 3 levels high.
Next day need to pull 5 templates, remember one took me at least 20 minutes and he realized this. I went back to the office 10 minutes later, Done, he just looked at me confused. Done what? Got all 5 pulled to let you see that the 20 minutes plus for one is now 5 in 10 minutes. Now he knew math as in genius math done without paper for circuit boards with customers over the phone.
Later I got the engineer since the machine had no manual to show me how to troubleshoot or even pull a circuit board acting up on the test unit and then trace errors "old machine breaking and an engineer overworked and paid over double my pay "good friend weed smoking buddy" to fix.
Boss caught me fixing my own machine and freaked since it was vintage early 1980's no parts made anymore. He then was told I was trained by the engineer and that he then told the boss because of me asking for that training he could get to working on the almost a year late dozen projects they were always asking about.
Boss is realizing the stoner drunk is doing 3x more jobs at work, is finding stuff wrong and fixing it to save him 1000's a year and doing it without prodding from anyone.
He didn't realize this and I didn't either at the time but I learned that by stepping up I was also fixing my own attitude and work ethics. I realized that the years spent trying to do the minimum had harmed myself and my growth so I went and looked for challenges or problems everyone was avoiding or ignoring like they didn't exist.
So not only being challenged but searching for challenges and making sure to complete them is what my view is most important for personal growth of men and women.
is this how you were raised? because being recognized for searching for challenges is how i was raised. my parents didn't play any cut-corners crap. if we even thought the word "bored" growing up, we were given chores. chores on top of the other daily chores.
i had an experience or two like yours at the work place. i actually saved my boss, the company owner, about 60 grand and two weeks on the job site just by doing some math and making a suggestion. this was a federal job.
he looked at me and said dumbfounded, "i don't know how i didn't think of this. how?"
i can only think that this positive behavior is taught or encouraged.
I read your first paragraph and Bill Burr doing an imitation of a crappy nagging wife voice was in my brain instantly. "Oh I see you have nothing to do "watching sports" so let me fill that up for you" He nailed that one and your parent would likely love that part of his act also it's so nailed it in it's perfection.
As you also stated sometimes bosses are so focused on the prize they fail to adjust their own perspective so see what is obvious to another person and if they'd just treat them right and then later when a problem comes up ask around and see if those people that are putting in part of their life to enrich yours might be holding gold for idea's that they decide are better kept secret.
You stepped up, that's great and show the bosses/owners that the guys that are not top educated are a gold mine of knowledge if just asked to shown the problem it's replied with...
"Is that all, we can fix that in 20 minutes, all ya needed to do was let us know what you needed and what are the governement restraints so it fits the specs they require."
We know the word fuck would be used twice so not so eloquently said but the meaning and results of the request are the same, done and done right since the workers know the methods to fix stuff in their field best, fuck that bastard with the shit he's trying to sell for the commision.
Ask the hourly guys and they'll toss ideas at ya like a machine gun, just respect their intensions and do not berate them if their idea is not right.
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