A few months ago, my wife, youngest daughter Maartje (almost 7 months) and I were in Croatia to visite our dear friends Edita and Goran and their lovely children. One evening Goran told me a true story about his job. He is a quality controller at a shipyard. One of the last ones as Europe will steal them away - but that is another story.

At the end of December, Goran received a call from his boss. He and his team were asked to install a crankshaft, over 14 meters long, with a deflection of less than 1 mm over the full length. Read that twice and try to understand. It's unbelievable! For those who cannot see the greatness, wait for my next blog on Timisoara and mobile.

So Goran and his team started 2 days before Christmas to install the crankshaft. Were they going to make Christmas Eve at home? Probably not. Did they mind? Of course they did. Were they motivated to do the job and make sure they delivered on time? Of course they were. After them came the next team on a different part of the project.

Goran is a quality controller and takes his job very seriously, so the minimum deflection was not good enough, he wanted perfection. He was able to bring this eagerness to his team, even on Christmas Eve. Despite all men missing out on dinner with their families - they succeeded. When finished, he took his team to a local restaurant where they ate together and Goran shared his self made wine. I found out later that, even during work, he treated them to some “distraction tasting”. He was truly proud that his team finished a perfect job on time. He even arranged them an extra bonus. It was the proudness that struck me the most. And although it is a cliché story, when you hear it from a man going on 55, you're impressed.

At home Goran is doing some renovations, but this takes a little longer. He is a perfectionist and that makes it difficult, very difficult. I would advise him to ask his team to help him and foresee a deadline :-) You can only love Goran, always for better !

There are not many Gorans left in the world today. He knows he has to pass on his knowledge, but it is hard to find pupils who are willing to listen; people with the right attitude and the relevant knowledge.

Reading Danny’s blog on teaching, reminded me to write this blog. We will always need teachers, as not all pupils want to go to the next step. I do not even go as far as creating new opportunities as he does in his blog. Today I notice that the listeners stay at the level of a listener. The next step is action. Therefor you need entrepreneurial skills, which is not something that can be taught, but something you have to live. As my film teacher told me; "being an artist is a way of living, not something you can claim!"
I also want to thank Edita and Goran for taking care of us and sharing their experiences in Croatia. They are not spoiled like we are, but they are in full political transformation and still remember a real war. Love you and see you next year!