There are, doubtless, men capable of carefully weighing the almost infinite number of variants, but such men usually lack the intuitive scheme of work, on which the inventive side of a designer depends. For the ordinary mortal the best process of working is to keep a vague picture of the whole requirement in mind while concentrating on some one phase. When the inventive qualities are to be called into use, the economic side, the business side, the manufacturing, the selling, the personal profit in cash or glory, all these must be absolutely crowded out of the center of the mental picture. Even fleeting thoughts of other elements seem to prevent the inventive functioning of the mind. In like manner the problems of manufacturing, selling, patents, business organization, must each be given a separate consideration. The interval between taking up the various questions should be as wide as possible. The mind seems to require a previous notice of days or weeks or more in order to take up any one of these problems, at least, with any hope of success. The Hero of the Eraser. The drafting board may show that no such arrangement of parts can ever be made, that the whole scheme must be altered to make it practical. A real hero is required for the work of juggling the elements of a drafting board. He must have patient endurance and sufficient strength of character to use the eraser heroically, for the eraser is mightier than the pencil in the drafting-room. There are a thousand valiant knights armed with pencils to one stalwart pusher of the eraser. In the drafting-room the work of harmonizing must go on; compromises must be made between the ideal scheme of the dreamer and the requirements of the manufacturing and selling departments. Next to the noble knight of the eraser comes the idealist who has been toughened by experience in the cold world. The idealist aims to design and construct a perfect machine. He is encouraged in his work by seeing a little clearer each day, month, and year of the time spent in the right kind of application to his work. He knows that the work of last year is faulty, that this year's work seems nearly perfect, excepting for a certain slight change that has just entered his mind. He cannot think of allowing any machine to be made without this later improvement. He is inclined to the optimistic view, his memory works best on the good work of the past, and is extremely poor in holding afresh the view of previous mistakes. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Industrial Progress and Human Economics by James Hartness