Skip to main content

a little LSD goes a long way


Years ago, when I was a field service tech, my specialty was control systems and VFDs. Those were the days filled with opportunities to help folks, be challenged by new problems, and come up with some pretty creative solutions! A large piece of equipment or control system is filled with thousands of wires. Our job is to break it down in quadrants and focus on one circuit at a time. "Halving" challenges, in other words looking at problems and cutting them in half and then half again until you finally find the solution.  My father taught me many things and the ability to apply simplicity to troubleshooting was one of the greatest.



To this day I still think about challenges in the same manner, although after 35 years in the trade I have now spent 2/3 of that time out of the field (on a day to day basis).  It really is all about LSD. I have learned over the years when I apply a little LSD to any situation it suddenly becomes better. Of course, the LSD I speak of is Logic Simplicity and Diligence. So the next time you are preparing for anything just remember to get a little LSD, it will beat that KISS theory any day of the week.



-----

Next post:  right amount of info

See all of the "last mile worker" posts here:  http://lastmileworker.com

-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stream of consciousness

" I wonder if today will be different thought Influential Irene, praying that she would not be barraged with questions throughout the day.   Overwhelmed Oscar, only two weeks with the organization is filled with anxiety just knowing he can't remember everything he's learned.   How do I process payroll again he asks himself as he works quietly for hours hoping to hide his incompetency" .   If there was a mechanism, one which would point them in the right direction, to help them with every day "in the moment" questions.   Even if everything was static, new and tenured employees alike simply forget details, especially those tasks which are done infrequently.   The amount of time spent and frustration endured each and every minute of the working day is significant and often happens without any visibility.   Natural language processing and chat bot technologies are emerging as strong candidates to help us all address this life-long challenge of relevan...
Post a Comment
Read more