My Mentors: My Dad

This is a long post, but a meaningful one for me.  So please give it a real read.

With all of the wonderful comments on the Design Post, I noticed how many of you mentioned working with family or friends as a key piece of your enjoyment.  It led me to write this post about someone I always enjoyed exploring and building with:  my dad.

Part of learning is surrounding yourself with people who can inspire you and who share their passions with you.  I was lucky enough to have someone like this with me from the beginning.

My dad was a bio-medical engineer at the University of Michigan (Uof M).  However he did not take the ordinary path to becoming anengineer.  He had a rough childhood and barely finished high school and never graduated from college.                  His Senior Picture

He was extremely talented at figuring out how things worked, designing, sketching 3-D drawings, and inventing.  He originally worked at a manufacturing plant and sat in on classes at U of M and Eastern Michigan, not to get credits or a degree, but to learn.

He created his own learning opportunities and followed his own path. (This is what all of you will have to do as careers and the world in general change before your eyes.)

He eventually got a job in a tool shop at the U of M.  For many years he worked his way up, patenting multiple inventions, starting his own company, and eventually teaching a course to PhD engineer students at U of M.

Along the way, he also owned a rib restaurant, was the president of a credit union, taught himself how to rebuild an old barn into a house, and eventually donated 30 acres to create a city park (called the Fox Science Preserve, with a picture of Vivian and me on the sign).

Over the years my dad and I built many things and shared many experiences together.  Including pine wood derby cars, forts, grills, potato guns, bathrooms, bedrooms, plumbing, and on and on.

Original Barn in the 70’s

Thinking about how to build a circular room in the silo

Holidays in the Barn, notice the arched beams going to the peak of the barn

For an idea of scale, the Christmas tree is 15 feet high or 4.6 meters

If you have read this far I appreciate that you took the time to learn more about my dad and me in the process.  The thing is, when you have a good mentor or teacher you absorb certain traits and attitudes by simply being in their presence and following their example.

It is hard for me to write about my father, because unfortunately he passed away three years ago the month before I moved to Venezuela.  He was my best friend and mentor and I miss him dearly.  But I still carry many lessons I learned from his actions and words.

• Love of Learning
  • He was able to make his passion his work and his life.  He loved going to work and loved “working” every spare minute he had at home.  If you don’t like what you are doing every day then change it!

• Curiosity and Innovation
  • My dad had a curious disposition and always wanted to know:  Why?  How does it work?  How can you build it differently? What happens if you do this?  Wouldn’t this be cool?  Why not?

• Creativity
  • He could see things in a way that other people could not.  He wasn’t stuck in a certain mindset.  There was always time allowed to imagine what could be.

• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
  • Almost nothing we worked on went as quickly or easily as expected.  The real skill was being able to adjust and re-imagine  while we were in the process.

“Work hard, play hard!” – Merlin Fox

When you are working, give it all of your creative energy and produce with your finest craftsmanship.

When you are relaxing with your friends and family enjoy every minute and don’t ever waste a second.

Comments?  

Who are your mentors or heroes?  What important lesson(s) have you learned from someone?

What did you learn from this story?  What did you learn about Mr. Fox?

What makes a good mentor?  Anything else you want to add?