CHAPTER V

   The motivation of the growth of this nation during the years from 1776 to 1929 was production and construction. A tremendous amount of work was required. So we may fairly consider work as the common denominator, both for the wonderful accomplishments of the past and the unknown problems of the future.

   So great was the amount of work to be done during these 153 years that there obtained almost continuously the condition that jobs were hunting men. Modes in education, thinking and action were all governed by that condition. Now, with our modes of thought trained to that past condition, we are faced with a situation where men are hunting jobs. That there are no jobs is evidenced by the fact that millions are out of work.

   We must sell our services and abilities, not ourselves. To do that we must either create a demand or supply a need. We need, therefore, either a product for sale or a service available. As we are thinking in terms of work, and man as the source and originator of work, what we have to offer is man power.

   Man power, unorganized, can fill a job for better or for worse. Man power, organized, is a defined and limited product for sale or service available. That brings us to the question

   What Can You Do?

   What Can You Do?

   With this in hand we can talk intelligently to anyone about our abilities. To do so we must first talk functions in their language-work language - and secondly have available the proof of the accuracy of our statements.

   "What I have done" is an established and un- changeable series of facts. We have lived our lives up to the present moment and cannot alter the past. Using this past as raw material we can start to build a factual statement which will help us to find the answer to that ever present question "What Can I Do?"

   As has been said before right thinking plus right action yields right results. To the best of the author's knowledge the first practical application of this principle was made industrially by Major L. W. Abbott of the Western Electric Company. So let us apply it to our problem now.

   If we start up the chart the way we have come down, the first step seems easy. Put on paper "What I Have Done," bearing always in mind that others are interested in deeds and accomplish- ments, not in titles or positions. This, to be truth- ful and fully useful, must cover our entire life from the time we attained the age of reason to the present hour. As you have seen, what seem to us to be unimportant happenings in the past, may be the controlling factors in the future.

   To be truthful these types or general classifica- tions of work must be defined and confined. To do this we specify the exact kind of work we can do under each type or classification. This will give us the overall type of work and the limiting kinds of work - a reasonably definite statement.

   These abilities will be of greatest use in certain fields of activity. No one can do everything, no one can perform perfectly every kind of even one type of work. In order that we may serve to the best advantage - service to ourselves as well as to others - we must specify clearly the particular fields in which we can best perform each kind of work.

   We can now lay before friend or prospective employer a "Man Power Specification." We have organized ourselves on paper so that we reveal to everyone either a "Product for Sale" or "A Service Available." These in turn will either "Create a Demand" or "Supply a Need." We have climbed up a few rungs of the ladder of thought that we built as we worked down from generalities to particulars. We can choose intelligently the people to whom we wish to present ourselves and have made it easy for them to choose us, if we can be helpful to them. Who are these people? Let us find the answer to this question,

   Who Needs This?

   Directing our thinking along lines similar to those we followed in answering the question "What Can I Do?" we can at once say that we need names of Companies or People who would be interested in our "Man Power Specification." We now know the kind of work we can do and the fields in which we can best perform.

   If you - and by you is meant your capabilities - are not known, you cannot be profitably used. In order to be known you must let people know not only that you exist, but also what "kind" of a "you" is available. You must advertise. No adver- tiser can guarantee specific results, but they will tell you that the more people that know what you have to offer, the better the chance of a satisfactory sale. You are offering either a "Product For Sale" or "A Service Available" which should be of interest and value to someone. The more people that know of what you have to offer, the better chance of your receiving the highest return for the services you can render.

   Your "Man Power Specification" describes and defines in work terms the "you" that even to yourself has always seemed a complicated human being. You could not satisfactorily express yourself in words. Facing an employer you do not have to answer any questions, you will not get confused trying to tell the story of that part of your life which you think will be of interest to him. The statement of your capabilities and the supporting evidence are both there for your audience to con- sider.

   "I should like you to read these specifications of what I can do in case my services might be helpful to you or your associates, either now or later."

   In presenting ourselves in this fashion to friend or stranger we are raising the discussion from the level of job seeking to the plane of offering helpful work abilities. There is plenty of work to be done to improve existing conditions, but it is hard to find the man who can do that work except by the expensive method of trial and error. Man Power Specifications largely eliminate trial and error; if well and truthfully made out and intelli- gently used trial is eliminated and error will not occur.