[Themaintainers] The Grind Challenges, revisited

[Andrew Russell]

Hello again!  

I wanted to bring to your attention a pair of responses to Guru’s excellent “Grind Challenges” essay (see below for original).  The responses were published in the Fall 2022 issue of Issues in Science and Technology, in a forum titled “The Grind of Infrastructure Maintenance” - https://issues.org/grind-challenges-infrastructure-madhavan-forum/ <https://issues.org/grind-challenges-infrastructure-madhavan-forum/>.

Good food for thought for practitioners and academics alike.  And for the teachers/professors here, it’s worth noting that Guru’s essay and the 2 responses admirably distill complex ideas into accessible prose - aka classroom gold!

Cheers,

Andy



> On Aug 1, 2022, at 1:45 PM, Andrew Russell <andy at themaintainers.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone - 
> 
> Here’s an excellent new piece from our advisory board member and friend, Guru Madhavan of the National Academy of Engineering  - 
> 
> https://issues.org/engineering-grind-challenge-madhavan/ <https://issues.org/engineering-grind-challenge-madhavan/>
> 
> "The Bayonne Bridge reengineering illustrates something common to all projects involving infrastructure upkeep and upgrades. I call them the “grind challenges.” Unlike the grand challenges that transfix communities with big, bold targets that push the frontiers of achievement, grind challenges are the myriad interlocking tasks that keep our highly engineered world functioning. They involve testing, inspections, standards, compliance, quality work, care work, and all the nuances of negotiating to move load-bearing bureaucracies. Essential though these tasks are, few people beside the workers who regularly wrestle with the details are aware of them. Despite their low profile, grind challenges are tremendously important, and they are defined not by their blue-sky idealism, but by how well they accommodate nearly impossible constraints on—and in—the ground."
> 
> Thank you Guru!!!
> 
> 
> _____
> 
> Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D.
> + Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
> + Co-Director, The Maintainers <https://themaintainers.org/>
> + Co-Author, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most <https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576816/the-innovation-delusion-by-lee-vinsel-and-andrew-l-russell/>



_____

Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D.
+ Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
+ Co-Director, The Maintainers <https://themaintainers.org/>
+ Co-Author, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most <https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576816/the-innovation-delusion-by-lee-vinsel-and-andrew-l-russell/>
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