All designers follow more or less.  We have shown the great need of following the set habits of users, but we should make a distinct attempt to get back to nature; that is, to see just what is best for the purpose, and to get the most direct and natural means.  If this is too much of a task, just hunt for the obsolete features.  Above all things, we must not try to follow another’s work.  We too often follow unwittingly and to our misfortune even when we try to keep out of the rut.

Machine designers who have done original work will tell us that it is easier to do good work by striking out on new lines than it is to follow the work of others, or even to tinker over some of their own inventions of other years.  It requires more ability to take up the work of another and change it, than to start out in some original scheme.

The machine builder knows that the success of any machine depends on the clear-sightedness of his designer and the oneness of purpose of all the heads of all the departments devoted to the construction, sale, and oversight of the running machines in the hands of the users.  And last but not least, in these days of supremacy of specialization, he knows that success comes only to the largest group of men organized for this particular kind of work.

All Men are Human Beings.

One of the first things we learn in the works or office is that all men are really human beings.  The second one is that the meanest one is only so because of certain physical or mental conditions that are the direct result of natural law.  Usually it is not necessary to drag in heredity, for we find ample cause in his environment, within our range of vision.

As a rule, a good understanding of men insures a wholesome regard for them, while failure to understand the other fellow (or the equivalent, the failure of the other fellow to understand us) may bring out many things that make us feel that he is not one whose feelings or interests should be considered.

To any one that has had experience in the shop and a fairly well-rounded business and financial experience in this particular field of work, the other fellow is invariably a good fellow whenever there is a chance for a fairly complete understanding.

If we can accept this statement tentatively, and follow it up by a determined purpose to actually feel it, then we have obtained something by the royal process that would have otherwise required much time and perhaps some unpleasant experiences.

This knowledge is essential to success in designing machinery.  True, many have been successful with a very different attitude, but engineers of the future must see to it that as many of the phases are as favorable as can be made so.

Regarding the absorption of the knowledge of working mechanism in the works this is greatly facilitated by a wholesome relationship with other workers, and it is greatly handicapped without it.  Therefore, it is one of the cardinal points for the machine designer to get thoroughly acquainted with others in the work so as to know their likes and dislikes, as well as the mechanical needs.