FROM THE FA A
16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
THE ORIGIN OF THIS ARTICLE STEMMED FROM
a discussion between Ron Donner and the author.
The discussion was about this year's AMT Next Gen
Awards Top 40 Under 40 aviation maintenance profes-
sionals. We acknowledged our respect for the mul-
titude of nominees and those named on the list. We
talked about the character traits that promoted their
nominations. They are the behavior and personal
traits that will likely ensure their continuing success
in our industry.
HOW TO MAKE A LIST OF TRAITS?
When your job title is chief scientist and technical
advisor you try and use data to answer questions.
Therefore, I made a list of 50 traits down column A of
a spread sheet. Across the rows I listed five personal
friends and/or professional colleagues that I respect. I
thought that I could check boxes and narrow the list
of 50 traits to about 10 and then have enough data
for this short article. That sounds easy, however, I
found that I checked most of the boxes for everyone
on the list. Therefore, I needed a "Plan B." For that
plan I decided to make two short lists of five each,
important for aviation maintenance personnel. One
list considers easily observable behavior. The second
list focuses on desirable personal and professional
competence characteristics. I'm guessing that the two
lists describe the AMT Next Gen 40 Under 40 Award
winners, but it works for anyone.
This brief consideration of observable behavior
and traits spares the reader of psychological mumbo-
jumbo. Instead, it merely provides an avenue to con-
WHAT IS THE "RIGHT STUFF"
FOR AVIATION MAINTENANCE
PROFESSIONALS?
Passion for the job affects how we approach the entire work day and each
task during the day. When a worker has this passion they appear to enjoy their
work and take pride in the proper completion of every task.
By Dr. Bill Johnson