The Future

 The present economic crisis has again brought out the Cassandras that predict misery for the future. In a perverted way this sort of pessimism satisfies the human psyche. It's like the effect of horror movies that excite through fear. At times like these few are those who predict and are listened to about a better future for humankind yet progress has been exponential throughout time. The media prefer to frighten us with doom and gloom because that makes better news.

On the whole people are pessimists by nature. Might this have something to do with the only thing that awaits individuals in the end? The evening news on TV will show us the gory pictures of people burned by fires, buried in rubble from earth quakes, of mutilated bodies from war, and heinous crimes committed by criminals such as abductions and murder of innocents, or children dying of cancer. These are the issues that interest us, issues to do with our safety. Seeing these images we extrapolate them and expect that these are the norm and not the rare exceptions that are of little statistical significance when set against the millions if not billions of people going about their business trying to earn their way. Rarely do we see acts of bravery, of people risking their lives to save a stranger in distress, compassion and love, the common bonds that bind us all together.

Look back 20 years and consider the advances in medicine, in computers and in telecoms, not to mention the internet. We accept all this as we do the end of the Soviet empire that kept millions of people trapped behind an iron curtain.

China, India, Russia, Brazil to mention the giants that are waking up, are all advancing at great speed. The whole world is coming closer together. They will all make considerable progress in the next 20 years and will in turn contribute to our progress. Where was India and China after the Second World War?

We'll find intelligent ways to use energy and produce food for everyone. We'll make better use of mineral resources for the benefit of all the world and not just a few. We will learn to use space both on the earth and beyond and we'll develop new forms of energy. This is less amazing than going back fifty years and being told that we can have a teleconference with people on another continent. A hundred years back and our world would appear as magic. Cars, Planes, Satellites, Computers, Mobile Phones etc.

Just imagine where we'll be in another 50 years with space technology as well as medical and technological advances. There are many things in the pipeline that will make the world a better place for everyone. Nanotechnology will make the inside of our bodies an open book for self diagnostics. Cars will drive themselves, energy and other mineral resources will be recycled. Above all, the world will become multipolar giving a voice to all its citizens and not to the privileged few. Some people may find adjustment difficult but they'll be helped by the spread of knowledge. "Cogito ergo sum" that is the motto for the future; it's our ability to think that will carry us forward

Menage a Trois

Anne was with her daughter Brenda, having a drink at their local pub.

 Anne turned to her daughter. "Talking about men,  I’m thinking of asking Peter, to come and live with us." 

"And how would you dump him when you got fed up of him?" Brenda quipped.

" I’m sure you’ll like him,”  mother said with a frown.

Anne was right, her daughter got on well with Peter. He soon made himself at home. He liked to do odd jobs around the house and he even cooked  Sunday dinner. He was quite a good cook. You’d see him with his apron organizing everything and laying out the table for mother and daughter.

All was well, and everyone was content with the arrangement. Mother regarded Peter as her useful idiot. Peter on the other hand scored points with his friends in having the two women and a grand house. He now had a Mrs and a Miss Jenkins on his hands. While he occupied himself with the Mrs, Miss Jenkings was preoccupied with her studies.

One morning, after Anne had cleared up in the kitchen, she heard the postman drop some letters off. 

There was a letter for Ms. Jenkins, and she absent mindlessly opened it.  There was a photograph inside showing Brenda and Peter a little too close. They were  surrounded by a group of young people. At first she thought nothing of it. It looked as if they were having a good time. Then she looked closer. They were in a tight embrace!

" After all I’ve done for him, I should have known better." She thought.

 Had somebody sent her the photo to warn her? She looked at the envelope again.The letter was addressed to Ms Jenkins and not to Mrs, it was her daughter’s letter!

"I’ll throw him out of my house," she thought. Then she  thought again."What it’s all about? There may well be an innocent explanation."

That night at dinner, she announced that she would be going to see her sister next day and would be  coming back late.  Peter said he'd  eat something at the pub and have a drink with his pals.

"No problem for me either mum, I have some work to catch up on, and will  have something light at the college.”

Late next afternoon Anne got into her car  and drove to her sister’s.

 "I can’t stay too long Claire, I need to be back when Brenda comes home." She said As soon as she arrived.

"No problem" Claire said. "we’ll have a cup of tea and a chat before you leave.”

She was back home by eight, and decided to go in, through  the kitchen door at the back.

"Just as I suspected,  I can hear voices from upstairs," she thought. Her daughter wasn’t alone. The voices came from Brenda's room. Anne was shaking now as her worse fears were soon to be confirmed. She climbed the stairs quietly -  She’d catch them at it. The door to her daughter's room was open, but the light was off. She stood there in the dark for a while looking at the two of them, so busy that they heard nothing even when she coughed.

 “That’s enough” she shouted. “How long must I stand here watching you two?” 

Brenda looked up. She was not surprised to see her mother. 

“Oh mum! What are you doing here? I though you said you’d be going to Aunt Claire’s till late.”

"Well, I’m back as you can see and just as well.  As for him he can pack his things and get out of here. To think I trusted him and took him into my own house.”

"Sorry Mrs Jenkins, don’t know what you’re talking about,” whispered  the boy. I came to give Brenda a hand with her home work and we just kissed that’s all.” 

Anne couldn't believe her ears - she was shocked. Switching the light on, she  saw him. 

"Just get out,” she shouted.

The boy gathered his things  and slipped past her going down the stairs and out of the house.  Brenda asked  her mother. 

“what is really the matter with you? You look mad – we weren’t doing anything that serious, just kissing.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me, it’s this picture. I opened your letter by mistake yesterday and saw you and Peter….  A terrible mistake by an old jealous woman.  Please forgive me!"

“ Oh mum you shouldn’t have. You know how much I love you?  That picture was quite innocent. I saw Steve at the pub and I invited him over; I was with  friends. One of them took the picture. ” I wouldn’t do that to my mother, OK?  She hugged her mother, and they went down the stairs together.

 

Women

The world is definitely unfair to women. Granted, they have the disadvantage of physical strength, but they easily make it up by moral strength. They also have more endurance. They outlast their male brothers.

Their real supremacy is in their role as mothers. They are the source of all humanity. When a seaman is in difficulties, he calls out for his mother no matter his age. Mother commands respect. When a man wants to put another man down he does it by uttering profanities against his opponent’s mother. In the life of a child, the mother is the light house the source of love, and security. The father also has a role but that’s just it, it’s a role but not the main one.

We are all reared by our mothers, whether we are male or female. What is it that men fear? Why do they demand higher standards from women? Is life a competition when we all come out of our mothers' womb?

Just think of life at home. Who manages everything? Who does everything? They often hold down a job but as soon as they come home, they have to shop, cook, and clean up. Then the next morning they get up before everyone to make breakfast, and ready the children for school. Then they make themselves up for going to work. If they have babies they stay up all night to nurse them to sleep. After all that, they are expected to also find time to nurse and please their husbands.

You get to wonder what they have done to deserve such a fate, and to think that the Church looked down on them for a long time as if they were guilty for sin, and even though they were the gentler and more understanding sex, they could not provide spiritual comfort as priests.

If you believe in a Higher Intelligence, then you have to accept Her purpose. Is it that women are the real intelligence that drives our world, and is it time for them to move to the front seat?

 

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Thought Waves

 

Thought wave reception is rather haphazard due to the amount of interfering noise.  

If we close our eyes and go blank we may be surprised at what may come into our heads.  Once we start, it gets easier because the initial  impedance to the vibrations has been overcome.

We may have a premonition that things will happen later in the day. Where has that feeling come from? Maybe it was passed on to us from waves that are all over the space around us. Expressions such as ‘having a brain wave’ or ‘being on the same wavelength with another person’ may well be indicative.

We seem to be wired up to some kind of universal radio system and it’s just that its signal is too weak to capture. We do not have as yet the technology to benefit from person to person thought communication, and from a central information base that stores and makes available the thoughts of people. Maybe our thoughts live on, and we do not know it! Maybe person to person thought communication sounds crazy, but it’s no more crazy than television to a man from centuries past.

Science is itself based on the recorded knowledge of the past and each generation simply adds to the common pool of knowledge. Just as past ideas have been recorded for us in written form so may the thoughts have been recorded in space, as waves.

Modern science tells us that matter is energy and made up of waves. We are made up of matter. Our brain receivers have filters cutting off at certain frequencies just as the hi fi base and treble controls that modify the waves of sound to suit our ears.

Our minds do not see things as they really are but as we perceive them. All our sensory organs act as filters letting some frequencies through and blocking others and each individual sees things differently, since each one of us has their own unique characteristics. Some of us are better receivers than others and can pick up a wide variety of weak signals from others. Animals have a high degree of sensitivity to brain waves. 

Filters change what we see. When we look at patterns we may see different things. Think of paintings as opposed to photos or puzzles of dots that have an image

The energy of our thoughts is so small that we do not become aware of it. Low energy implies  large wavelengths and since mass is the energy, electrons have little if any mass so the weak long waves are lost in the noise. Does a feeling we have received come from an external signal and the question is where does this come from? Does it come from other energy sources or from thinking people near us? With frequencies all around us and can we tap into them? 

We do not see the radio waves but we know they are there and we have mastered the technique of capturing them and decode them, so why not thought waves? 

The wonder is that our own mental receivers can decode feelings. When we are lying in our bed at night, the mind is in freewheel mode. All sorts of things can enter.

Training - The Best Tool for Growth

 

 

  TRAINING - THE BEST TOOL FOR GROWTH

There's nothing more demotivating than not knowing what you are doing. The frustration of trying to learn on the job. Imagine an airline pilot who has not been properly trained. Imagine a group of untrained engineers sent out to fix complex machines.

Good and productive training leads to growth in business. Since training is all about preparing people, identifying real needs training and providing for them, would be the  manager’s way of ensuring productivity. You have to ask yourself, how you can provide quality, and customer satisfaction if it is not through well trained people? How can you develop new ideas and products that really lead to growth? It's only through knowledge and skill of your staff. All kinds of Staff be they designers, engineers, office and administration.

 

Money spent on training has a high pay back both in the short and long term. It can  cut out repeat visits, lengthen the mean times to repair, and reduce the use of spares in maintenance.  At the same time, well trained assistants will help increase sales. Development through training is the best strategy for all activities such as service, manufacturing and administration and is a vital factor in the long term survival of an organisation.

 

IDENTIFYING THE NEEDS

 

As with any activity, you need to be specific. You have to identify needs before devising programs to solve your problems and focusing on the real problems. Little point in highly trained people consistently bombing the wrong targets.  Assuming that you have recruited people with the right social and technical background, you use your appraisal interviews to fill in knowledge gaps, and your line and alert calls to target specific repeat problems.

 A list of people should be made with the competence each individual in the key problem areas of operation. For example, if dealing with hi tech instruments  then you have to identify individuals with particular knowledge and skills in areas such as electronics, mechanical, chemistries or physics and software.  A map of a particular department would then show the actual strengths or weaknesses so as to launch new products successfully or to ensure a profitable operation. By using colours to depict strengths/weaknesses, competence levels  from zero to 5  you can then use green for those with 4 and 5  and red for those with 1 and 2 leaving blac those with 3. This matrix of people and skills quickly shows the area of strengths or needs that need to be addressed.

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Below is a typical list of areas where you may find needs. This list is not exhaustive. Managing your training needs means using all resources available be they internal or those provided by external organisations. You need to devise programmes that will cover the following.

 

 Induction

Technical Fundamentals

Communication & Relationships

Trainer Training

Product training

Workshop Practice

User Club Updates

Management & Technical Development

Operational Exercises

 

 

INDUCTION TRAINING

 This is internal training. It is needed at the start. You need to make sure that new people  know their way around your organisation. Every person needs to know the rules and who does what. Procedures in product features and benefits, filling out time sheets, defect reports, expenses and the rest, all need explaining by an experienced individual and backed up by written documents.

 

TECHNICAL 

Here you can use external resources to cover basic material. When learning about new products, people should not have to struggle with the fundamentals. Separate them out. Prepare an explanatory document that covers the basic concepts which either the trainees need to learn or they already know. Test your people before formal courses. You will ensure effectiveness by identifying and covering the fundamentals. Prepare the trainees in advance. No point in struggling  while trying to remember long forgotten basic facts on defining different units.k*8

 

COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 

Here, you will probably need assistance from external sources to drive the points home. These are a must  for every person be they on the phone on site or behind the counter. Highlight the following key points by using examples. Remember that a person who can communicate well, and relate to customers is also the person that is likely to make the next sale or have the next idea.

Speaking with, and understanding what is being said from how it is said 

Do not make promises that cannot be met 

people are more likely to remember you if you let them down 

 promise less and deliver more 

Seeing things from another person's point of view

 avoid arrogance 

be helpful and understanding

 

TRAINER TRAINING

Use the experience of senior people to help others. Teach your experienced people the skills of training others. Whilst knowledge of the product is important, it is often not enough. Empathy and  delivery is also very important. There are also additional advantages in trainer training.  Staff  are more likely to benefit from practicing the discipline to analyse, plan, and implement the programmes as well as by measuring results. Presentation to, and control of groups, as well as the psychology of learning can serve them well in their personal development.

 

PRODUCT TRAINING.

 This is the key tool for an engineer and should be provided by experienced engineers. The purpose of product training is to know “where to grease and less on how to grease.”  An explanation of purpose with blocks and circuits, with sensor points and expected values will help understanding of signal flows and aid trouble shooting. Reference to the service manual will also be used to identify special tools and techniques for access and replacement as well as complex adjustments.  Usually short programmes with updates and workarounds  tend to be more effective than long winded sessions. The subject matter should be reduced to the essentials. Breaking up the material with periods in the field also helps to refresh9 and retain the information.

 

WORKSHOP PRACTICE

 This is the best way to build up engineer skills in advance.  All practical work should be properly structured with written exercises to reinforce hands on familiarization.

 

TROUBLE SHOOTING UPDATES 

These are informal sessions used to address those repeat problems identified from daily activity reports. Particular problems as subject matter conducted  by experienced senior personnel. These may address multiple problems that could be related to Staff, clients or systems. It may well be that a procedure has not been well understood and is causing problems or it could be a particular customer who has difficulties or an inexperienced service person. When analysing the problems to be addressed you have to establish if they are general, or related to a single person.

 

USER CLUB UPDATES 

These enable you to bring customers up to date and at the same time address frequently encountered problems.  Such programmes are extremely useful in reinforcing necessary customer procedures.

 

MANAGEMENT OR HIGHER TECHNICAL TRAINING 

This is the development route for selected high fliers. By sponsoring them on management or technology courses they can develop within the organisation and beyond.  Not everyone wants to be or can be a manager but management training benefits also those who also choose a technological career.

 

Management Training is a priority of  corporate management.  You also need to prepare people to develop upwards. Management training  helps to  to  understand the political and economic environment in which the company operates. It helps understand the business thinking and the language of corporate finance to properly represent the interests of Staff and customers, making an important contribution to your business.

OPERATIONAL TRAINING

This  goes on all the time on the job but you can derive extra benefit by formalising it. This is not the sort of training given in a classroom. It is getting the whole team to know each other’s role just as fire-fighters do when practising for emergencies.  You simulate an alert and follow through the exercise to identify your weak points and correct them. Take a leaf from the military. Train your force to be an efficient servicing machine by realistic practice sessions. You may have a problem in acting quickly and efficiently when many people are involved in responding to a problem. Spares may not be where you thought they are.  Transport may not be as reliable as you imagined and you may be committed to terms in contracts that could be costly if you fail to deliver on time. Play the role of a dissatisfied customer who makes a complaint, then follow through your procedures in treating the complaint.

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TRAINING ORGANISATION

 

You should run your training activity in a “closed loop”.  First of all you set down your desired values. Then you identify needs by comparing your objectives to current performance. Your training manager becomes the controller receiving the errors and acting to reduce them, and if necessary you go round the loop a second time. You never relax and you keep on inching gradually making small corrections as necessary as part of operational and training management.

 

Training has to be a very highly focused operation, like a laser beam burning through problems. The highest quality standards should be used with zero tolerance for bad planning and execution. The use of check lists will ensure that all individuals involved in preparing documentation, equipment and consumables, spares and facilities will sign off so as to avoid things falling through the cracks.

 

The training has to be conducted and run methodically and   pre-course material should be provided in advance to help people prepare.  This material can then be tested by questionnaires enabling  instructors to fine tune their course for maximum impact.

 

Good results will be achieved by documenting and telling people in advance what will be delivered, then delivering what was stated and measuring the results. There should be no compromise in planning and documenting programmes in advance.  The more that items are written down, the less likelihood of things going wrong. Check lists and documentation; take the strain out of planning and delivering acceptable quality.

 

In conclusion, providing training and people development makes it possible to improve productivity and do more with less. Remember. “It is not the size of your  team -  it's the quality that matters most.”

 

 

 

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