For those who may not have been around in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Bob Ross was the host of a TV show called The Joy of Painting. The wonder of his technique was that it would establish a basic framework on a canvas in a vague level of detail to start, and then by the end of the half hour show, he would have rapidly developed it to a finished painting. It made for relaxing viewing since Bob had a soothing voice and would usually choose tranquil landscapes.

Check out a few episodes

As well as being better for your soul than watching most modern news media, Bob’s show/technique has some applicability to what might seem to be a completely different sphere – that of technical reports. Let’s consider a few ways you can apply Bob Ross skills to an engineering practice.

Establish a framework

One of the joys of watching the show is seeing the detailed painting emerge gradually from what initially seem like formless blobs. Bob has a vision of what he is working towards. His initial setup forms a solid framework that he can subsequently flesh out with increasing layers of detail. So – how is this relevant to technical reports?

Employ the Bob Ross technique effectively in your technical reports by setting up a sound initial framework  – sections, formatting, even the first stabs at content for some of the major aspects. I often will write the first draft of the technical report prior to any analysis, site visits, or kickoff meetings with the client, which seems counter intuitive – how can you know what to write about, before collecting the data? Yet, it is useful to start with this framework as a way to plan the work and develop an intuition for the directions the work might go. Everything is negotiable later – sections can be rearranged, format changed, content revised – but when one begins “with the end in mind” the final product will be more coherent, and all of the intermediate detailed work and discussions will be more productive, as everyone understands how each piece of detail can fit into the master framework.

Something Bob Ross techniques are useful for in a way he might not have expected is that setting that initial framework up early is essential for works that require collaboration. We have all discovered that working in teams to develop a single document can be challenging – arguments over format, structure, agreement between sections, content etc. If as a project manager you can get out in front of the rest and establish (and/or enforce) a coherent framework early, everyone’s detailed work can then fall in appropriately into the proper sections with good agreement.

The Bob Ross technique is not to work linearly from the upper left to lower right of a painting, as he presumably would not write a report from start to finish. Rather, it would be to dart over the whole of the product, and paint it in circles of gradually increasing levels of detail.  It may be useful to keep that nonlinear thought process in mind as you develop your own products.

Art and Fun

As engineers, you spend 90% of your time on reports, drawings, or other documents that some may not consider as art. There may be an artificial distinction between the kind of art that gives people joy and the kind of technical work that one earns a (good) living from. If you are able to weave in more enjoyment that one might associate more with art into your engineering works, both you and your clients will derive more satisfaction from your efforts. Consider that engineered products such as infrastructure projects or vehicles are going to have lifespans that may outstrip our own. Ideally they should be long-term monuments to the attitudes that people have while designing, constructing, and living with them. Bob’s paintings are beautiful in part due to the positive spirit he has in painting them – watch him and one can appreciate how he takes pleasure in the smallest aspects of development. If you can share some of his attitude in building your own works, both you and the project will benefit.

 Happy Trees

Towards the end of a painting, Bob will sometimes decide that, well, this painting just needs a happy tree. Some painters might prefer inserting an animal, or other ‘special adder’. And why not – it is his painting, he can have as many happy trees, clouds, or squirrels as he desires. In the same spirit, it can be rewarding to paint in some happy trees (cows perhaps if you are from Wisconsin) in reports: some bonus features for the client. This might be a discussion of other value engineering features that go beyond the minimum requirements of the report – perhaps other ideas that may boost the aesthetic, technical, or sustainability aspects of the project. Something that you have extracurricular interest to explore. Since these happy trees are not covered by your defined scope of work you have greater artistic freedom in terms of what to present and how to discuss. These adders would be done outside the billable hours of the project ‘just because’; if your work gives you more delight, you don’t mind spending extra time on them compared to ‘the grind’. Consider ways you can use happy trees to bring more delight to yourself and more value to your clients, and you may well find it more personally satisfying as well as strengthening your relationships.

Summary

Please watch a few episodes on Random Bob Ross by clicking the link above and you will get an appreciation for his technique and clues to how you might apply it to your works. As a side benefit, watching him is very relaxing, and is a low-cost, substance-free way to put you in a positive mood for whatever you plan to do next.

Bob served for twenty years in the U.S. Air Force, so despite his gentle demeanor and happiness, he definitely knew discipline and hard work, proving those aspects are not incompatible.

He died in 1995 at age 52. RIP Bob