Did it happen suddenly?

When we don't pay attention to small changes, we may land in crises and pay a heavy price. Proactive monitoring and timely actions can prevent most crises. To drive this point home to my team member I enacted a dramatic demo in my office. 

Did the paper weight fall suddenly?

The background 

I was the maintenance manager in a continuous running paperboard plant in India. Sometimes, a running machine stops due to the failure of a part like a bearing. Unplanned repairs were very costly. Preventive maintenance during a planned shutdown was the gold standard. 

I had to arrange for the repairs and restore the machine to production in the shortest time. We lost more production if the failure happened at night, as we had to bring the technicians from their homes. 

As the manager, my more important responsibility was to take steps to avoid similar unplanned stoppages in the future.

The shift managers and area Engineer were responsible to monitor and replace the defective parts before they failed. I would ask the Engineer why they couldn't monitor the condition of the bearing and replace it in the last planned shutdown. They would tell me that the bearing was running fine and there were no signs that it may fail shortly. 

This is not true for bearings. They show unusual symptoms like vibration, sound, or temperature before they fail. I enacted a dramatic demo at my desk to drive this point home to the concerned Engineer.

The paperweight demo

I pick up the now obsolete colorful glass paperweight lying on my desk and place it in the middle of the table. I slide it a few inches toward the Engineer. I stop, look at him, and say “Nothing happened, right!". I moved it again and said “Nothing happened!" I moved the paperweight a few inches at a time until it fell off the edge of the table with a loud thud. Then I shouted “Oh! The paperweight was sitting fine on the table, a few seconds back. How did it fall suddenly?”

The Engineer watching the demo would smile. He would admit that something unusual must have been happening before the bearing failed. 

He might have one or more reasons why he couldn't replace it in a planned manner. (1) His team didn't notice the unusual symptoms. (2) They noticed the symptoms but thought the bearing would not fail before the next shutdown. (3) The symptoms were bad and they were concerned. They knew a planned shutdown was a week ahead. They hoped it would not fail in a week. 

To make a reliable assessment of the internal condition of a bearing, a special vibration measuring instrument is needed. It is another story that such an instrument was being used and the early warning readings were being recorded. However, the Engineers in the department didn't believe the instrument showed the true condition of the bearings and didn't act on the readings.  

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Life lessons

Machines

We may not notice the unhealthy changes. We may notice the changes but underestimate their significance. We may succumb to the attitude of 'that-is-how-we-have-ben-working-in-the past'. 

The slightly deteriorated condition may become the 'new normal'. When the incremental deterioration builds up and reaches a tipping point, it will lead to a major consequence. 

People and relationships

Let us bring this concept to people. A recurring pattern of adverse behavior of a person at work or home may be a warning sign of serious relationship problems ahead. If we don't take note of these minor changes early on and take corrective actions, the relationship may fail beyond repair. 

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What can we do?

Watch for changes in things, people, and the environment. 

Know what is a healthy condition. 

Know what is a healthy and unhealthy pattern of change.  

Predict where the unhealthy pattern will lead to and the consequences.

Plan the corrective actions to restore the healthy condition. 

Act on the plan.

Be tuned to the feedback and revise the plan, as an ongoing process. 

With such an approach we can prevent crises, reduce costs, and enhance confidence. Then we will have the energy and motivation to explore areas for improvement and innovation. 

In the area of relationships, we need to take note of the small unpleasant behaviors that make us uncomfortable. We can practice Nonviolent communication and reflective listening to resolve the shadow boxing. We can defuse the stress. We can avoid the rupture of the relationship. 

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