Sheli Mauck

I want to get into a business where you actually do not make a product. I want to get in a business where you make decisions, but are not held accountable for them and sign others names to loans. I want to get in a business where I can make more money than I am paid, given inside information and not suffer any consequences for such. I want to spend more than we take in and not be held accountable. Waste...no problem, borrow more, sign their name to it. Want to send money to your overseas buddies while you can't balance your own budget...no problem. Have bureaucrats dictate rules, regs, and other non-sense. Oh man do we have a life time job for you. Don't worry about your qualifications for this job, a campaign of fluff and promises will qualify you...after all, memories are short and your potential vacation days long. It does not mater if you can find Waldo or not, or even remember who Waldo was, if he was on first, second or third base....even what ball field he was on or what city he was in. What business would this be? Do you think the rules are about to change?

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I recently began the Harvard ManageMentor Program and have just completed the second course out of 41 – Ethics at Work and it’s incredibly informative and valuable. Key takeaways include: - Applying a framework for resolving right-versus-right ethical dilemmas: Understanding how to make tough decisions when both options seem valid. - Building a culture of integrity: Creating an environment where ethical standards guide everyday actions and decisions. - Making ethical decisions across borders: Gaining insights into how to approach ethical issues in a global context, respecting diverse cultural perspectives while maintaining core values. Looking forward to leveraging these insights to drive positive change within my team and beyond! #EthicsAtWork #HarvardManagementor #Leadership #Integrity #EthicalDecisionMaking #WorkplaceCulture #ProfessionalDevelopment

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I posted a week ago about characteristics of a high performance culture and what leadership looks like in these organizations. I was doing some reading this week and wanted to expound upon one of the questions that I asked of leaders ... "Are you empowering your direct reports and team members to make decisions and think on their own?" Army Doctrine, ADP 5-0 The Operations Process, describes the application of critical and creative thinking for innovative solutions to complex problems in part in the following: "1-68. Breaking old habits of thought, questioning the status quo, visualizing a better future, and devising responses to new problems require creative thinking. During operations, leaders routinely face unfamiliar problems or old problems under new conditions. Leaders apply creative thinking to gain new insights, novel approaches, fresh perspectives, and new ways of understanding problems and conceiving ways to solve them." If you are a leader in your organization does this paragraph accurately describe what is accepted in your organization? Is it acceptable to question what has always been done or frowned upon? Are organizational leaders, not holding official leader titles, free to apply creative thinking to improve the performance, processes, or operations of the organization as a whole? Have you asked them in a manner in which they felt comfortable to share openly? From my experience, every organization faces complex problems requiring innovation and fresh perspectives on solving current and future problems to guarantee success and avoid complacency. Those responsible for ensuring that happens are the leaders (with the title and without) in the organization. I have, at times, while leading project teams and managing direct reports unintentionally stifled creative thinking. However, over time I have learned that encouraging this behavior in your team makes the individuals better, the team better, and the organization better as a result. As a leader, that is the perfect scenario, is it not? #personaldevelopment #leadership #management

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Following the response to my recent post about my participation in Sci.STEPS mentorship program, I've noticed a strong interest in career development within my network.  Many of you, especially those in academic institutions, are curious about transitioning to industrial companies. This topic has been a recurring theme in conversations with my mentees over the past two mentorship seasons and during our "Industry and/or Academia" roundtable discussion. In light of this interest, I've decided to start a new project: collecting transition stories and practical advice from individuals who have moved between academia and industry. The goal is to provide valuable insights for those considering similar career moves. The connection between science and industry has always been a source of knowledge and skill exchange for me. It's a dynamic relationship that fosters innovation in both sectors. By sharing these experiences, we hope to illuminate the pathways between these two worlds and highlight the valuable cross-pollination of ideas that occurs. These insights will be presented as mini-interviews, which I'll share as a side project under the hashtags #A2I2A. This format will allow us to explore diverse perspectives and experiences, offering practical advice for those considering such transitions. If you have a transition story you'd like to share or specific questions you'd like addressed, please feel free to reach out. Stay tuned for our first #A2I2A stories. 

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Just finished the course “Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers” by Sara Canaday! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/g85vndud #peopledevelopment #careerdevelopmentcoaching.

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https://lnkd.in/g6SBJGjZ Good read. Excellent insight on the concept of DCA with clear examples.

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Improving Problem Solving. In his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes two modes of thinking: System 1 and System 2. System 1 is rapid and subconscious, while System 2 is slow and methodical. When trying to identify the root causes of a problem, it's important to slow down and use facts and data, rather than relying on previous experience and biases. Individuals often focus on what is most visible and whatever is most convenient rather than what will solve the problem. If such lapses in judgement continue to occur, the same problem will of course also continue to re-occur.

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Today is a blissful day. Thank you for the encouragements and tips from those in my previous post. This is me doing my best to retrace my steps and get back to what matters to me: being good at what I am tasked with. I still remember the first troubleshooting I did. at the time, it was a new unit, and basicallyI had to dig deep to find out its details. There were a few lessons I was taught at the time: 1. There must be a need to have philosophies to design, operate and control systems. 2. There must be a basis to defend your selection of technology 3. There must be an optimization after you complete your project to get your design to work to what you had in mind. I shared the story of this troubleshooting before: it was about the Side stream flitration system. And I feel getting to learn about design, operating, control and selection just from troubleshooting this system helps me a lot to respect the complications of being a process engineer. It also helps that I now acknowledge that this applies to any system, and that I am just lacking exposure to other processes. So here's hoping to get that exposure in the future! #processengineering #growingeveryday #processdesign

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For Friday, here is a little commentary nugget to ponder on. It is by Katrina Trinko is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Signal. Entitled: Nice Work If You Can Get It? What a New Report Reveals About Federal Employees. There is waste, then there is a landfill of waste. When there is no accountability, bad things happen. Good thing that this will soon change. Yep guess that is how it is when you don't actually make a product and have to make a profit to sustain a "company". Yes it seems that the unelected bureaucracy runs deep...Yep bet this waste would have been very handy for those effected by the hurricanes....on to it. ...."Bring on the DOGE revolution. An explosive new report from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) Caucus, notes that fewer than 1 of out every 10 federal employees (6%) work in an office full time, citing an April survey. “If you exclude security guards & maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who show up in person and do 40 hours of work a week is closer to 1%!” posted Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur leading DOGE with fellow billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, in response to the report. “Almost no one.”... STAND UNITED for FREEDOM and OUR NATION !!

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Motivational sharing of the day Internal vs. External Leadership As far as I can remember, I have struggled with understanding leadership, mandates, and trust. For that, I've come up with the term internal and external leadership. Most important to oneself is to first gain leadership within, that is to be independent, able to manage your own time, your own life, your own career, mental health, everything about you. To then be able to externalize these qualities will be external leadership. Or rather, externally quality leadership. For in this world where leadership is seek, you will find that many aim to lead, getting mandate from seniority and alignment with business needs. Whereas in another context, leadership is mandated by the voice of the collectives, as leaders are the voice of many. As for me, I struggle with leading both. Internally, I fully understand the need for good habits, and to contextualize my independence, I strive to do the best of my work while upholding my values, though it leads to different interpretations of the end result. External leaders such as I have struggled with impostor syndrome, fully knowing the well of knowledge is ever so deep. Nonetheless, I strive to lead myself both internally and externally. There is always things you can improve about yourself, and if given the trust to lead, do so with the view that you are leading a team, and they are always ready to support you. #lifesjourney #motivationalsharingoftheday #leadership

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Just finished the course “Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers” by Sara Canaday! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gNn42NK2 #peopledevelopment #careerdevelopmentcoaching.

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I come from a chemical manufacturing background, but am 10 years removed from a plant environment, several in which I witnessed truly horrific plant incidents. Whenever I hear of a serious injury or fatality at a chemical plant, I flash back to those days.  At soccer practice tonight, a fellow soccer dad who works in the chemical industry said there was a fatality on their site. I instantly knew what he was thinking and feeling. For my friends and colleagues in a manufacturing environment, please renew your commitment to performing any and all activities in the safest possible manner. For my friends and colleagues in Supply Chain, we will always find a way to serve the customer.  If safety maintenance delays startup by a day, week or month we can eventually make it right. We can always recover from a service interruption (Don’t get me wrong, we hate disappointing customers!). We can never recover from a fatality or life-altering injury. Never. Trust me. I know. Stay safe my friends. 

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Friday December 20...five days until Christmas and CONGRESS can't get it together. This double author NEWS article is by Tyler O'Neil, managing editor of The Daily Signal and the author of two books: "Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center," and "The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.".....Bradley Devlin, politics editor for The Daily Signal. Entitled: NEW PATH FORWARD: Conservative Member Charts a Different Course After 2 Failed Must-Pass Spending Bills. Yes, how long have they known that this day would come. Yes, many were very busy with their campaigns...all while making various political promises that change was coming. However, now that old "DC budget can" is being brought out again we see the same old stunts. Unfortunately or is that fortunately ....yes fortunately someone also kicked the Fani can as in Willis out the door in Georgia on a certain case. The gift of anthracite coal seems most appropriate for many members of Congress, not a raise. And those many pork barrel projects and outlays for ridiculous subjects, they simply need to go. The election is over, the standard way of doing business is but a tiny view in the rearview mirror now....get real, get over it, do your job. The PEOPLE are NOW watching. Ask would the folks in various areas affected by various hurricanes think that various members would need pay raises when they sit in a tent, and some of their places of employment gone....Get down to brass tacks and real needs.....on to it. ...."the House of Representatives Thursday night, a conservative member who voted against the spending bill called for a new path forward. Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate drafted a compromise bill, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government through March 14, 2025. That bill, more than 1,500 pages long, would have funded the government at current levels, but it also included other provisions, including pay increases for members of Congress, funding for a State Department agency that has reportedly targeted conservative media outlets, and a provision to give the government of Washington, D.C., control of the area around Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. After the bill became public Tuesday night, Tesla founder Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy—whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead his nongovernmental advisory group the Department of Government Efficiency—loudly opposed the bill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled it Wednesday night after Trump joined the critics...." STAND UNITED for FREEDOM and OUR NATION!!

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Just finished the course “Nano Tips for Simple and Quick Decision-Making with Lisa Bodell” by Lisa Bodell! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/g8Ug5cWx #increaseproductivity #productivityimprovement.

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Self motivation reminder Intent drives connection. Emotion fuels it. ✨ This is a reminder to myself—and perhaps to others—that while intent is rooted in purpose, emotion often clouds the message. 🌱 Both intent and emotion spark reactions, but I’ve come to realize that intent stirs curiosity, while unchecked emotion may trigger a fight-or-flight response. 🧠💡 In my journey to grow, I aim to grow this new habit to always speak with clear intentions and channel my emotions through thoughtful words rather than through tone. It’s about creating meaningful, productive conversations that inspire rather than overwhelm. 🌟 What strategies do you use to balance intent and emotion in your communication? I’d love to hear your thoughts! 👇.

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Quick Sharing for the Day I’ve been working on my next article and spent a lot of time thinking about the storyline I want to present. It made me reflect on what I’ve shared so far and realize how much I value making engineering relatable. Why? Because learning is more enjoyable when you can connect with it. When you understand the why behind the engineering, it opens up new ways of interpreting and applying it. Take bubble cap trays, for instance. Saying they "increase separation efficiency" is a decent answer, but it doesn’t satisfy me. I want to know why they work better—because once you understand that, you can figure out how to optimize them operationally. And that’s where my perspective comes in: I’m currently on the operations side, and I’ve learned that bridging the gap between design and operation can be full of challenges. Design calculations give you the theory, but only experience teaches you how to make them efficient in practice. That’s the kind of sharing I enjoy—breaking down operational challenges to make designs work better. Sure, I’d love to dive deeper into design (I’m greedy for knowledge), but I know there’s only so much time to learn everything in working life. If I ever get the chance to design a column, you bet I’ll take it! For now, back to my article. Until next time!

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