Interpreter Sam

Abstract

Sam traveled back about two-thirds of a lifetime to see a young man, the proud owner of a newly awarded graduate degree and married for only two weeks, walking into the lobby of the building where he would start his career as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry. He carried a personalized leather briefcase, a gift from his parents which was very fashionable in those days; he doesn't remember any details of its contents. By his own estimate he was confident, but not too confident, and undoubtedly was much more nervous and apprehensive than he realized at the time. After only a few years and still on a very steep segment of his personal learning curve, he chose to take a position with a different company, necessitating relocation of his family to another state. At his new company a representative of the Personnel department (the language hadn't evolved to Human Resources yet) asked him, “What is your primary career goal?” Instinctively and without hesitation he replied, “I want to be the best geophysicist you have.” He couldn't have imagined how often the substance of his response would motivate and guide him in years to come, nor could he have known at the time that there is no such person as the “best geophysicist” in a company (see Interpreter Sam in the October 2008 issue of TLE). Certainly there is an “only geophysicist” in some companies, but …