"Trying something over and over again and expecting different results is one definition of insanity."
- Dr Albert Einstien
Okay, so you had this plan, right? This idea. It was going to fix a problem or increase efficiency or lower the bottom line. But when you implimented the plan, it didn't work. So you do MORE of the same plan, HARDER, and...
STOP.
If your plan doesn't work because you messed up the execution, go ahead and try it again. But if your plan didn't work because the plan doesn't allow for the way the universe works, then you should probably choke it down, scrap the plan, and start over.
Example: Where I work, they have a machine designed to chop compacted product up. This product is basically sapphire, and in the state we're handling it, it has a Mohs hardness of 9. The steel blades in the machine have a Mohs hardness of 5.5. A softer material will always be worn away by a harder material far more quickly than the harder material will wear. In this case, the steel will not wear the sapphire at all, and the sapphire eats the steel very quickly. This not only damages the machine, it also introduces iron and chrome into the product, which is unacceptable. For 2 years now, the engineers have been putting harder and harder blades in the machine. 440C stainless steel, etc. The hardest steel they've managed is just above a 6. Still softer than the sapphire.
IN SHORT: They are replacing a part that doesn't work with another part that can't work for the same reason.
And when this sort of thing happens, and you look at the problem and the people still bashing their heads against the wall, and maybe you say "Perhaps we should try a completely different approach", they get pissed. REALLY pissed. Because you've now given them the choice between continuing to smash their heads against the wall and admitting that their idea didn't work, which is the same as admitting they were wrong. And let me tell you, brothers and sisters, they will KILL YOU before they do that.
Are you those people, friends? I bet you are. Most people are...It's just easier to see other people do it. When YOU'RE doing it, the rest of us assholes don't understand that This Damn Thing would work, if everyone would just get on board and STOP OBSTRUCTING YOU. It is at that point when you have dropped back onto your knuckles and started making monkey noises.
"I've never minded shitting my pants, so long as someone's paying the invoice."
- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, in his book The Lean Years
Now, if you're being PAID to smash a client's or a boss's head against the wall in a futile attempt to get the universe to make an exception for you, and he won't listen to reason, then SHUT UP. The client or the boss wants it HIS way, not the universe's way, and the universe isn't signing your paycheck. Working for stupid people - even working for humans - does have its advantages. Like backing up the Titanic for another run at the iceberg, and getting paid for it. There's a certain glory in that.
And hell, it's not like you're responsible for making shit work, right? That's what THEY are for...The engineers who know it all, the pointy-headed boss who wants reality to adjust to him, the client who wants it done THEIR WAY (get it in writing, though). THEY are the "brains" of the operation (har har!), you're just the hands. Smile, do it their way, and then shake that ass in the smoking ruins, like James Brown taught ya.
OR KILL ME.
:mittens:
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:43:57 PM
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
It's like I'm taking crazy pills.
But I AM blessed. I get paid to dumb shit, and I ALSO get paid to make dumb people angry. And then do more dumb shit.
:lulz:
Bravo!
We Americans love the "Do it harder!" method of Success™. I'm pretty sure we learned it from the British.
Quote from: All-Father Nigel on May 08, 2014, 04:50:37 PM
:lulz:
Bravo!
We Americans love the "Do it harder!" method of Success™. I'm pretty sure we learned it from the British.
We still haven't perfected the "get rich and THEN die in weird ways" thing, though. So the mother country still has the edge.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:46:13 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:43:57 PM
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
It's like I'm taking crazy pills.
But I AM blessed. I get paid to dumb shit, and I ALSO get paid to make dumb people angry. And then do more dumb shit.
It can make you rage or it can cause a zen-like detachment and a good old belly laugh. Like I said on the other one - I feel familiar with the headspace, if not the meatspace.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:53:57 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:46:13 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:43:57 PM
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
It's like I'm taking crazy pills.
But I AM blessed. I get paid to dumb shit, and I ALSO get paid to make dumb people angry. And then do more dumb shit.
It can make you rage or it can cause a zen-like detachment and a good old belly laugh. Like I said on the other one - I feel familiar with the headspace, if not the meatspace.
Yeah, it really depends on my mood. It either makes me fucking nuts, or I giggle like a damn school girl.
Going by the steel machine story, you either need a few more pills or find it much harder to breathe than me :lulz:
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 05:00:31 PM
Going by the steel machine story, you either need a few more pills or find it much harder to breathe than me :lulz:
Well, we haven't actually got any air up here.
The steel blades thing was actually one of my finer moments. I got a cheap laugh, and the heathens were shamed.
I feel like this series has achieved a flawless victory.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:53:23 PM
Quote from: All-Father Nigel on May 08, 2014, 04:50:37 PM
:lulz:
Bravo!
We Americans love the "Do it harder!" method of Success™. I'm pretty sure we learned it from the British.
We still haven't perfected the "get rich and THEN die in weird ways" thing, though. So the mother country still has the edge.
Yeah, for some reason it's mostly our poor people who die in weird and inventive ways.
Quote from: East Coast Hustle on May 08, 2014, 05:16:46 PM
I feel like this series has achieved a flawless victory.
Thanks. There's not much new material in it, but 2-5 were mostly written for projects outside of PD (fliers, etc). I am feeling the need to actually DO stuff again.
Hahaha this is gold.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:46:13 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:43:57 PM
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
It's like I'm taking crazy pills.
But I AM blessed. I get paid to dumb shit, and I ALSO get paid to make dumb people angry. And then do more dumb shit.
Yes. There's a certain beauty in that. :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
QuoteThis product is basically sapphire, and in the state we're handling it, it has a Mohs hardness of 9. The steel blades in the machine have a Mohs hardness of 5.5.
Oh gods, how many times has that exact issue come up in the meetings? I think I'd have lost my shit after the second.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 06:08:08 PM
Quote from: East Coast Hustle on May 08, 2014, 05:16:46 PM
I feel like this series has achieved a flawless victory.
Thanks. There's not much new material in it, but 2-5 were mostly written for projects outside of PD (fliers, etc). I am feeling the need to actually DO stuff again.
This is very, very good to hear.
Worrisome, but good.
Quote from: Junkenstein on May 09, 2014, 07:17:02 AM
QuoteThis product is basically sapphire, and in the state we're handling it, it has a Mohs hardness of 9. The steel blades in the machine have a Mohs hardness of 5.5.
Oh gods, how many times has that exact issue come up in the meetings? I think I'd have lost my shit after the second.
Every week for 6 months.
I typically just sit there and study the stupid.
Quote from: Tiddleywomp Cockletit on May 09, 2014, 04:57:19 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:46:13 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on May 08, 2014, 04:43:57 PM
Holy fuckballs. I was going to say "I can't believe the part about the steel v's saphhires" but the truth is, I can believe it.
Still a fucking amazing example of the effect, tho! You truly are blessed* to be near it.
*for a given definition of "blessed"
It's like I'm taking crazy pills.
But I AM blessed. I get paid to dumb shit, and I ALSO get paid to make dumb people angry. And then do more dumb shit.
Yes. There's a certain beauty in that. :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
I like to think of it as riding along the edge of a cliff on The Unicycle of the Apocalypse.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 09, 2014, 01:48:36 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on May 09, 2014, 07:17:02 AM
QuoteThis product is basically sapphire, and in the state we're handling it, it has a Mohs hardness of 9. The steel blades in the machine have a Mohs hardness of 5.5.
Oh gods, how many times has that exact issue come up in the meetings? I think I'd have lost my shit after the second.
Every week for 6 months.
I typically just sit there and study the stupid.
It's lovely when social concepts are applied to technical realities. "Give it a week" is a standard line for many business issues but there appears to be a fundamental failing in understanding what is and is not a changeable situation.
Have you considered adopting a pet brick? I get the feeling it may be useful in demonstrating all kinds of concepts to these heathens.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on May 08, 2014, 04:19:31 PM
"Trying something over and over again and expecting different results is one definition of insanity."
- Dr Albert Einstien
Okay, so you had this plan, right? This idea. It was going to fix a problem or increase efficiency or lower the bottom line. But when you implimented the plan, it didn't work. So you do MORE of the same plan, HARDER, and...
STOP.
If your plan doesn't work because you messed up the execution, go ahead and try it again. But if your plan didn't work because the plan doesn't allow for the way the universe works, then you should probably choke it down, scrap the plan, and start over.
Example: Where I work, they have a machine designed to chop compacted product up. This product is basically sapphire, and in the state we're handling it, it has a Mohs hardness of 9. The steel blades in the machine have a Mohs hardness of 5.5. A softer material will always be worn away by a harder material far more quickly than the harder material will wear. In this case, the steel will not wear the sapphire at all, and the sapphire eats the steel very quickly. This not only damages the machine, it also introduces iron and chrome into the product, which is unacceptable. For 2 years now, the engineers have been putting harder and harder blades in the machine. 440C stainless steel, etc. The hardest steel they've managed is just above a 6. Still softer than the sapphire.
IN SHORT: They are replacing a part that doesn't work with another part that can't work for the same reason.
And when this sort of thing happens, and you look at the problem and the people still bashing their heads against the wall, and maybe you say "Perhaps we should try a completely different approach", they get pissed. REALLY pissed. Because you've now given them the choice between continuing to smash their heads against the wall and admitting that their idea didn't work, which is the same as admitting they were wrong. And let me tell you, brothers and sisters, they will KILL YOU before they do that.
Are you those people, friends? I bet you are. Most people are...It's just easier to see other people do it. When YOU'RE doing it, the rest of us assholes don't understand that This Damn Thing would work, if everyone would just get on board and STOP OBSTRUCTING YOU. It is at that point when you have dropped back onto your knuckles and started making monkey noises.
"I've never minded shitting my pants, so long as someone's paying the invoice."
- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, in his book The Lean Years
Now, if you're being PAID to smash a client's or a boss's head against the wall in a futile attempt to get the universe to make an exception for you, and he won't listen to reason, then SHUT UP. The client or the boss wants it HIS way, not the universe's way, and the universe isn't signing your paycheck. Working for stupid people - even working for humans - does have its advantages. Like backing up the Titanic for another run at the iceberg, and getting paid for it. There's a certain glory in that.
And hell, it's not like you're responsible for making shit work, right? That's what THEY are for...The engineers who know it all, the pointy-headed boss who wants reality to adjust to him, the client who wants it done THEIR WAY (get it in writing, though). THEY are the "brains" of the operation (har har!), you're just the hands. Smile, do it their way, and then shake that ass in the smoking ruins, like James Brown taught ya.
OR KILL ME.
Hell Yeah.
Richter - told them about another run a the iceberg, still took the extra pay to make run #2 :lulz: