Back to Basics – Being an Insider

Think back to the last time you were observing a large crowd of people. Airports are a good example. So many different people and situations all wandering around, each with their own life experience, motivations, and goals.

Aside from the obligatory “messaging” hats, t-shirts, and shopping bags, you have no idea what these people are all about. Are they really attending Harvard? What involvement did they have with the Navy? They voted for that guy? Did they really shop at that store? Wonder how much all those mouse ears cost?

The point is rather obvious: Unless you strike up a conversation with all those people, you will never really know what’s going on inside. Your judgement based upon superficial “meta” data is not going to lead you to the right answers. Some you might get right, but most of the time you will be wrong. You need data that is only available from a long conversation to make informed decisions.

Equipment is no different

You walk past a row of hydraulic pumps every day. Maybe they are all the same, or maybe they are a mix of manufacturers. Yet they are all producing the same volume of fluid. When you look a little closer, you see that each one is delivering slightly different pressures, all within the green range.

Is everything good? Maybe.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting you go looking for trouble by cracking open those pump housings that have not been opened for 20 years. No, rather the suggestion is to find ways to understand what might be happening on the insides without making too much of a mess.

When was the last time you pulled away the oil soak snake to see if the leak is still small like it was when you put the snake down? Maybe is has grown into something more significant that the snake is now hiding? Nothing wrong with pulling off the bandage to see how things are healing… or not.

Technology leads to insights

There is no shortage of methods available to find out what might be going on inside of equipment. Oil analysis, vibration sensors, infrared cameras, etc. are all traditional and very effective ways of gathering internal data. It too is common that modern equipment has integrated sensors that may be providing vast amounts of telemetry for you to figure out what it all means.

No matter the volume and detail to the data, you need to move from the information level to the insight level before you can make decisions. No jumping to conclusions or relying upon stereotypes to act. No, you need to be thoughtful about this.

Pay attention!

When you interview a person for a job you take notes. Why? Mainly it is to jot down those gems of insight into the person’s psyche so… you guessed it… to be able to make a decision later! You only got these details by spending time with the person and digging into what they are superficially telling you via their resume or how they are dressed. (Remember that “meta” data?)

Do you have notes on your equipment? I’d bet that your team does. There are volumes of insight written every day as we take notes about what is happening with our equipment. The question is: What are you doing with these insights, and how easily accessible are they? (You’ve never seen how bad my handwriting is, have you?)

Are you “interviewing” your equipment, capturing notes into a system that then provides valuable insight, and then making use of this important data to make decisions with?

Now that the gears are turning…

Good judgement only comes after pondering the insights you have. If you use a stereotype or just meta data to form an action plan, then you are being premature and will most likely make a bad decision. The message you read on the T-shirt might not have anything to do with the person’s actual way of thinking. You need to have additional information that is most likely unseen and can be difficult to obtain to properly move forward. Get inside the equipment’s brain, just like you would that person sitting next to you at the airport… without being creepy of course. ??