A lot of space in the Biz Mags of the time was taken up by tales of the success of IBM’s “mentoring program” and Massey-Ferguson’s “mentoring program,” and so on.
The bitter Manager notwithstanding, a lot of these degreed kids were in full possession of the American work ethic, and their academic knowledge represented a huge potential benefit. But they did need someone who’d been around the works for years to show them where their abilities would do well, or not. Just plunking them down in a seat and telling them to save the Company generally resulted in the purchase of a giant mainframe computer and the necessity of getting everybody trained on it for “efficiency,” when a close look at product line processes and a few tweaks would have been much more beneficial in the short run.
It can actually be the stuff of workplace sitcoms sometimes. A friend started in the QA Department of a large auto manufacturer and is now a grey eminence in Engineering. How, one might ask, does a guy with a BA in Chemistry become an automobile engineer? A kid will come in with a fantastic new design for a Water Pump. “I’m gonna bolt this right here on the engine casting!” the kid would say, excitedly, pointing to a space on a blueprint.
The friend says to the kid, “That’s a great design, all right, but you might go to Cubicle 27, Row 16 and talk to Joe Doakes. He has a fabulous design for a Fuel Pump, and he plans to bolt it right there where you want to bolt your Water Pump. On the other hand, there’s plenty of space on the opposite side of the engine casting; why don’t you consult with your colleague and see if one of these Pumps can be moved over there?” Three hours later, both kids are back in the friend’s office, with a revised blueprint with one Pump on one side and the other one the other. “Wow, John; you’re a genius!”
And I guess, given the circumstances, he is. At least the car didn’t come off the production line with two Pumps in the same place. All it takes is years of experience. People tend not to value that nowadays.