Geotechnical Engineering in Uganda Series (017)_Good vs Bad

https://www.pinerest.org/newsroom/articles/good-person-or-bad-person-blog/

Good vs Bad

In my life time, so far, it has been a privilege to attend two great universities. That is Makerere University http://www.mak.ac.ug in Uganda and the University of Cape Town http://www.uct.ac.za in South Africa. In both universities I have observed the existence of at least one universally labelled ‘bad’ academician (lecturer/professor) by the students. They are labelled as ‘sadists’ considering they derive pleasure from the so-called suffering of the students. The ‘universally’ is qualified by the majority of the students for many years.

 

And sometimes, at least from observation, I tend to agree with the students. But I am also always shocked that I have come across at least one student praising the same bad lecturer. I have a good friend, formerly a student, who was supervised for his final year project research by one of the so-called sadists. The gentleman has profound respect for the supervisor yet he is hated (maybe not liked) by majority of the students. So who determines ‘the bad’ and ‘the good’? Is it about the majority and the minority? Or about the effect/results?

 

No One is Just Good or Just Bad

If we refer to the Bible, in the book of Mathew 16:13-23, there is a great conversation between Jesus and His disciples. In the first part of the conversation (Mathew 16:13-20), one of the disciples Simon Peter is referred to as the rock upon which the church will be built:

¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

This was a great encouragement and motivation to Simon Peter. The other disciples must have envied him.

 

Yet in the second part of the conversation, Simon Peter is being referred to as Satan:

²³ Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

This was a challenge to Simon Peter. He turned from Good to Bad. In the same way we can say that Jesus turned from ‘being good’ to ‘being bad’.

 

The Balance Between Good and Bad

When I submitted the first draft of the thesis for my MSc studies at the University of Cape Town to my supervisor, who at the same time happened to be my mentor, it was flatly rejected. My mentor looked me in the face and said he was disappointed with my submission. I felt bad hearing those words from a person who had greatly believed in me for a long time and always encouraged and praised my efforts. I was challenged to go back to the drawing board and produce something better. From that challenge, a lot was learnt and achieved including publications. I learnt that if I was to grow professionally, I needed to accept both encouragements and challenges.

 

I can genuinely say that I am naturally inclined towards ‘being good’. For a long time I have observed that many students and people enjoyed working with me. But I also observed that many of these were not growing because I was not challenging them. A few years back I decided to ‘toughen’ a bit. Surprise: I turned from ‘being good’ to ‘being bad’. Many students and people ran away from me. It was hurting to see them leaving. But at least they are now growing.

 

Lesson

The truth is, as a young geotechnical engineer, you need both encouragement and challenge to grow in your profession. Encouragement alone leads to pampering and stagnation. Also challenge alone will lead to discouragements and giving up. As a supervisor (lecturer/professor/senior engineer/boss), you need to create a balance between ‘being good’ and ‘being bad’. The people you supervise need encouragement and challenge in equal measure and at the same time. As a young geotechnical engineer look for a mentor who is in a position to encourage and challenge you at the same time.

 

I published my first book this week. My mentor, Prof. Denis Kalumba who also accepted to write the Foreword for the same book, has already ordered for a hardcopy of the book to be delivered by DHL to the country where he is currently stationed. Most likely the cost of delivery is far higher than the price of the book. And he already has a softcopy of the book. Why the hassle of getting the hardcopy? That is what it means to be a mentor. And that is the motivation I needed at this time.