Inukshuk: Substitute for a Person

The Wall St. Journal has an article about the 2010 Olympic symbol and logo, the inukshuk. This stone sculpture(or pile of rocks) and its many derivations are present at all venues and scattered all around the country.

The original purpose of the inukshuk was to mark the location of food caches, the direction of an important trail, or the memory of an event.  In the Inuktitut language, the term means “something that substitutes for a person.”

That definition led me to think of automated systems or “distributed control systems” in pipeline operations and other process controls.  At a family reunion, there was a discussion about the early days of pipeline right of way inspection. My father and others actually walked the line with a bag of tools.  They looked for small leaks, repaired problems with valves, and cut down weeds and other vegetation at fence rows.  I guess it was about 250 miles, since I saw an aerial mile marker along the pipeline yesterday on the drive home from the reunion.

Now an airplane or one person in a truck patrols and inspects the right of way.  And most pipeline facilities have modern communication and programmable logic controllers to perform operational tasks.   These inukshuit (plural form) are substitutes for many people.   A few individuals in a remote control center monitor and control the inukshuit.

This modern practice is not good or bad; it is the way of the world. I was bemused and intrigued by the similarities and differences between ancient substitutes for a person and today’s substitute for a person.

Posted February 22nd, 2010 in Human Factors, In the News, Observations

Grumpy People, Good Performers?

Do grumpy people work with you? Are you grumpy? Through the years, I have worked with lots of grumpy construction workers, pipeline operators, controllers, technicians, engineers, managers, regulators, IT workers, executives. Occasionally I have embarked on campaigns to reduce grumpiness at locations where I worked or managed. I know of companies that have got rid of knowledgeable employees for being “hard to manage.”

I may have been wrong, in my attempts to rid the workplace of grumpiness. The March/April 2010 issue of Scientific American Mind quotes a study that found “that people in a bad mood performed tasks better than those in a good mood.”

The study or the article states that “grumpy people paid closer attention to details, showed less gullibility, were less prone to errors of judgment, and formed higher-quality, persuasive arguments.”

That grumpy individual(and I’m thinking of several right now) may be the best person on your team to help you and others avoid errors and accidents.  He or she may not be a pleasant companion, but may produce more pleasing results.

Posted February 22nd, 2010 in Human Factors, In the News, Observations

“Suffering from Vagueness” – A Problem?

A 59-year old woman said she was “suffering from vagueness” when it came to controlling her compulsive shopping and spending.  Her statement was in an Atlanta Journal – Constitution article.  From years of Latin study(really), I know the root word for vagueness is vagus.  The original meaning is “wander, move around, unsettled.”   People have a vagus nerve, which wanders from the brain to several organs. Perhaps suffering from vagueness is part of being human.

I am not sure how one suffers from vagueness, but I think the woman is not the only sufferer.  Vagueness may lead to performance problems in operational control rooms.   Does this occur in your workplace, or home, or on your hard drive?  Is wandering required for you to locate something?

Working on shift one night, a controller was looking for an operating procedure.  There was a procedures manual online and a printed copy on a nearby shelf.  The  controller was looking elsewhere, sorting through e-mails he had saved for months in order to find the current operating instructions.  It took approximately thirty minutes to find the e-mail.  He may have been suffering from vagueness. because he needed the guidance of a procedure before performing a task.  How would you improve this situation and provide clarity?

If one does not have a procedure or a job aid or some type of guidance, could that cause suffering from vagueness?   I think so.   The worst case scenario for vagueness suffering is wandering around, looking for an answer, with no idea of where to find the right answer. That can cause errors and accidents in a hazardous industry workplace.

J.R.R Tolkien, in Lord of the Rings, has a phrase in a letter from Gandalf to the hobbits, “Not all who wander are lost.”   That proved true in that fantasy, but it is not good advice in an operational control room.  Performing operational tasks while suffering from vagueness can lead to loss of safety, profits, and jobs.

Posted February 17th, 2010 in Human Factors, In the News, Observations