There is an obvious truism about making progress: “The first step toward getting somewhere is not to stay where you are right now.” For reliability professionals, this means that retaining and defending the existing state of affairs at a plant or corporation will cause the organization to miss its reliability-improvement goals.
Allowing oneself to be “polarized” can be a threat to our professionalism. Being polarized means that we are (or are thought of) associating with one of two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. Whether or not we allow ourselves to be polarized is an individual’s personal choice. Professional neutrality, i.e., having an open mind, is an essential trait for professionals. If we allow ourselves to get mixed up in office politics, we will have a difficult time in in remaining neutral.
Good managers find ways to elicit fact-based presentations of issues and solutions. While encouraging the open interchange of information, which then allows them to pursue cost-justified reliability improvement options, they make it known that automatically “siding with the boss” is not in anyone’s best interest.
As perceptive value-adders, good managers greatly encourage hearing about competitors’ ways of doing business and how “they versus us” should be explained. In this manner, good managers accomplish an organizational shift from mere opinions to verified facts. This “us versus them” comparison will, in a subtle way, encourage the manager’s professional staff to do research by reading books, and by actively networking with colleagues both inside and outside the organization.TRR
EDITOR’S NOTE:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heinz Bloch’s long professional career included assignments as Exxon Chemical’s Regional Machinery Specialist for the United States. A recognized subject-matter-expert on plant equipment and failure avoidance, he is the author of numerous books and articles, and continues to present at technical conferences around the world. Bloch holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and is an ASME Life Fellow. These days, he’s based near Houston, TX. Email him directly at heinzpbloch@gmail.com.
Tags: reliability, availability, maintenance, professional development
