The Level III Is Already in the Acorn

There’s an old idea that says:

“The universe is in the acorn.”

An acorn doesn’t look particularly impressive. You can hold it between two fingers. It weighs almost nothing.

But given the right conditions, that little acorn can become a massive oak tree.

In a sense, the oak is already there.

Not as a miniature tree packed inside the shell, of course, but as potential. The acorn contains what it needs to begin the journey.

Then the universe provides the rest.

Sunlight.
Water.
Oxygen.
Soil.
Nutrients.
Time.

Take away enough of those things, and the acorn may never become the tree it had the potential to become.

I think about NDT technicians the same way.

Every Level I Is an Acorn

When I look at a new Level I technician, I don’t just see a Level I.

I see a potential Level II.

A future Level III.

Maybe even a future instructor, engineer, researcher, consultant, or industry expert.

Just as an acorn needs the right environment, an NDT technician needs one too.

For us, the sunlight, water, soil, and nutrients look a little different:

Training classes.
Books and technical papers.
Codes and standards.
Conferences and seminars.
Hands-on experience.
Good procedures.
Experienced coworkers.
Mentors.
Level IIIs willing to teach.
And plenty of mistakes followed by someone explaining why.

The remarkable thing is that today, more of these resources are readily available than ever before.

Books, online training, technical papers, videos, webinars, equipment manuals, professional organizations, industry conferences, and decades of accumulated NDT knowledge are all within reach.

The sunlight is there.
The water is there.
The soil is there.

But the environment is only part of the equation.

The Acorn Has to Grow

The developing NDT professional has to bring something to the process too.

Curiosity.
Ambition.
A questioning attitude.
Initiative.
Assertiveness.
Communication skills.
Negotiating skills.
People skills.
And the willingness to keep developing all of them.

I’ve always believed that curiosity and ambition are two of the most important attributes an NDT professional can have.

Having information available isn’t the same thing as learning it.

You have to read. Ask questions. Pay attention in class. Listen to experienced people. Seek out new experiences. And occasionally admit:

“I don’t understand this yet.”

You also have to be willing to revisit something you thought you already understood.

The strongest people I’ve encountered in NDT never seem to reach the point where they believe they’re finished learning.

Keep Asking “Why?”

Curiosity means developing an almost perpetual questioning attitude.

Why did the signal do that?
What would cause a signal like this?
Why are we using this frequency?
Why did that technique work better?
This procedure doesn’t seem right—does it need an update?
What is the source of this procedure requirement?
Is this actually required by the Code or standard, or is it simply something we’ve always done?

A good NDT professional shouldn’t be satisfied with simply knowing what to do. The goal should be to understand why we do it.

And when the answer is “because that’s how we’ve always done it,” maybe there should be another why.

Ambition is what keeps you looking for those answers.

Technical Knowledge Isn’t Enough

There is another part of becoming a Level III that sometimes gets overlooked.

Eventually, you’re going to have to deal with situations where knowing the correct technical answer is only the beginning.

A Level III may have to tell a Level I or Level II that work needs to be repeated because the data quality isn’t acceptable, an inspection wasn’t performed correctly, or something simply needs to be done differently.

Naturally, people sometimes push back when they’re told their work needs to be redone.

That’s where the Level III needs more than technical knowledge.

You need to be able to coach, teach, explain, and justify the decision so the technician understands not only what was wrong, but why it was wrong and how to do it better next time.

How you approach that conversation matters.

Handled poorly, the technician may become defensive and resist the correction.

Handled well, that same situation can become a valuable learning experience—one the Level I or Level II actually embraces.

The conversations can get even tougher.

You may have to explain to a client why expensive repairs are needed and the schedule will be impacted.

You may have to defend your technical position with a regulator.

Being technically correct is important.

But being technically correct and unable to communicate why can be a serious limitation.

That’s why assertiveness, communication skills, negotiating skills, coaching skills, and other so-called “soft skills” belong in the development of a Level III just as surely as technical theory, codes, standards, procedures, and hands-on experience.

Assertiveness doesn’t mean being aggressive.

Negotiating doesn’t mean winning every argument.

It means learning how to clearly state a technical position, support it with evidence, listen to opposing viewpoints, recognize when someone else has a valid point, and work toward a technically defensible solution.

And sometimes it means delivering information that people simply don’t want to hear.

Those skills take practice.

They can be learned.

And they should start developing long before someone has Level III printed on their certification.

Level IIIs Have a Responsibility Too

There’s another side to the acorn analogy.

We can’t deprive an acorn of sunlight and water and then complain that it didn’t become an oak tree.

Organizations and experienced NDT professionals have a responsibility to create an environment where developing technicians can grow.

That means sharing knowledge instead of protecting it.

Explaining why instead of simply saying, “That’s the way we do it.”

Encouraging questions—even difficult ones.

Providing good training.

Sending people to conferences and seminars when possible.

Putting useful books and technical references in their hands.

Giving technicians challenging assignments while providing the support they need to succeed.

And occasionally allowing them to make a mistake when the consequences are small enough that the lesson is worth more than the error.

Someone did those things for most of us.

We should do them for the next generation.

Look at the Acorn Differently

The next time a brand-new Level I walks into the shop, classroom, lab, or outage, don’t just see the person who doesn’t know very much yet.

Look a little further ahead.

You might be looking at someone who will eventually know more about a particular application than you do.

You might be looking at a future instructor.

A future Level III.

Maybe even the person who eventually teaches you something.

The potential is already there.

Our industry has spent generations accumulating the knowledge needed to help that person grow.

But the individual still has to bring the curiosity, ambition, and desire to keep reaching for more.

The Level III is already in the acorn.

Give it the right environment—and let it grow.

-Edward Korkowski   Eddycurrent.com