Memory Aids
When we make embarrassing mistakes, we try to learn from them to avoid them from happening again, or at least I know I will. Last week I made the mistake of referring to Sarah Palin as a Democrat, when in fact she is a Republican. Good thing I am not an American Voter!
Recently, Gloria Steinem wrote “Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton”. Interpretations of this quote lead several newscasters to try to remember which chromosome combination is male and which is female: XY or XX. When clarification was given that XY is male, the newscaster said, “I will remember that from now on because B-O-Y is Y.”
Humans are not blessed with accurate, computer like memories. We forget, confuse and stumble. No matter how many times I have made a recipe, I will still refer to the written version to verify quantities and ensure I don’t leave out an ingredient. When I run out of an ingredient, I write it down to remind myself on my next shopping trip.
Making knowledge accessible is an important part of creating robust and sustainable solutions. Written work instructions and checklists are proactive memory aids to help us achieve our highest capable performance even when we are not functioning on every synapse.
Sometimes, knowing better does not mean doing better. Accepting that fact leads us to find real reasons why mistakes are made – mistakes carry the notion of special cause, when in fact it may be the process itself that needs to change. One friend struggles with her teenage son putting his clothes into the basket, not on the floor. He knows better, he just doesn’t. While this could have escalated and become a source of struggle, the solution was simple to put the basket where the clothes end up anyway. Instead of a walk down the hall to the basket, the basket moved to exactly where the clothes got tossed anyway. A change to the process, not to the instruction.
Accessible knowledge means it is available when and where it is needed, as is demonstrated with the load charts. Have you ever left a meeting and forgotten what it is that you needed to do? On a larger scale, it can means keeping notes at meetings.
How much time do you spend searching for information or trying to remember something? As individuals, we tend to have our own quirks, of which we are all well aware. What are they, and how much simpler would life be if they were diminished?
On the flip side of the coin, what comes easily to you that you know others struggle with in your organization? What information and knowledge do you have that you could share? Perhaps you know how to pull up a report that others could use. Perhaps you have a lot of experience with a procedure, such as travel expense reporting, which may benefit others who don’t complete them often.
I think I will remember that Palin is Republican, since they both end with an n. What can you do this week to error-proof your own performance, your processes or your areas?
Filed under: Serenity Tagged: | error-proofing, memory aids, Palin
