Skip to main content

jumper wire, really?


Okay already, do I have to say it?  Are you really that insecure?  Avid Andy's mind began to flashback; jumping the safeties because you did not understand how to read a schematic, manually forcing the new-fangled VFD at 60hz since the "last system" never changed speed, blaming that new magnetic compressor for the lack of cooling in the building (due to its size) ... by the way where do I check the oil?  Each one of these, and there are countless other examples, have the same root issue:  humans. 

You can see the frustration flood over Andy's face, very similar to that of Charlie Brown as he endured tireless teasing from Snoopy.  It seems convenient, especially as time causes our opinions to become increasingly cynical, to respond with "they just don't give a crap".  Reluctant Ruth, the epitome of cynicism,  shouts out, "possibly you should hold a mirror up to yourself, this issue has stood the test of time, it squarely lies on the shoulders of the organization and their approach to support field workers".  As Ruth continues Andy jots down the most salient points:  

  • Spotlight.  Most field activity has the potential to threaten my perceived worth to the organization. I promoted myself when you hired me, convinced you to pay me over scale, and now I can't understand this new control strategy or piece of equipment.  Do I call you?  Reach out to others for help?  What happens if my "secret" gets out that I don't know everything, will my job be at risk? 
  • Stagnate.   At the core of any field worker is the desire to figure things out, could it be possible that your organization has simply not facilitated the convenient access to knowledge, experts, context?  Are you inadvertently creating an environment in which workers stagnate?
  • Support.  Not our job, we hire professional service personnel and expect them to hit the ground running.  Au contraire,  a culture which encourages others to ask questions when they need to, without fear of judgment or repercussion, will prevail in this rapidly changing world

It is only when humans internalize the reason why that you will tap into visceral performance.  This combination of feelings and intellect will unlock incredible value for your clients and employees.

----- 
Next post:  who's data is it?
-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking AI (artifical intelligence)

You're talking but I can't hear you.   Everyone can certainly understand this condition; the "Peanuts" parents who sounded exactly like your own, your significant other while you watch your favorite game on TV, or most importantly a work colleague or partner which you are attempting to communicate a thought or vision.   All of these, and many other examples, have plagued our organizations long past the childhood game of telephone (passing your words to another, and on to another, etc.).   So what?   What has changed?   Besides the velocity of products hitting the market, the requirements that we have for our business now needs to be interpreted by data scientists, yet another abstraction layer from the field conditions.   Think about this example; TODAY :   we often think in binary terms, if "x" happens do "y" …   take a sales person seeking potential leads by searching a system for the last time we made contact TOMMOR...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are "mistakes" good or bad?

One of the attributes that make a great technician is the fact that they have made a lot of mistakes. Our biggest challenge is recalling those mistakes ourselves and as importantly sharing them with others on our team. Every single day we go out and fix things, many of them are routine and may not require any form of documentation or sharing; however, there are those instances where we have discovered gold. The trick is to make sure that we can learn from our mistakes in a systematic manner and have the ability to spread the information throughout our organization in a useful and relevant way. Corrective action, an integral part of a quality system, is the absolute best vehicle to put in place for your organization. Some of you may have been turned off by the words "quality system", don't worry you can still deploy a corrective culture without having to understand completely how corrective action and quality management systems work. The process is very straightf...
Post a Comment
Read more

months to aquire, moments to lose

It is just hard to imagine that one of the most common reasons maintenance contracts are lost is because people don't show up and don't pay attention to the details.   In many cases maintenance is an investment to keep the life of your asset running for a protracted period of time. However the length on many maintenance contracts is not even close to the life expectancy of that equipment, so if you don't really have any idea what maintenance is being performed then how do you really know if it's being done to your specification? Thus, it really boils down to business elements, assuming that you are actually performing the work, our focus needs to be on how you are differentiated. Let's take a look at a couple of the most common business-related reasons why people lose maintenance contracts. Not showing up ; managing contracts can be complicated between the sites, number of assets, and the frequencies at which items need to be maintained, can a...
Post a Comment
Read more