New level of dumbass

[tommmmy]

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[studemax]

Human stupidity knows no bounds

Absolutely. One of my uncles was a Lt. Col. in the Infantry, and they would plan operations trying to cover any possible scenario that might arise so they could have an alternative plan to handle the variable. But they made it clear at every meeting that they could not plan for stupidity, for the exact reason Dan stated.

In my decades working in the tool and die shop making jigs, fixtures, and tools for the production of aircraft - the tool designers would try to anticipate problems and design a tool that was easy to use (in an obvious way) to produce a clean part that would pass inspection. I can't tell you the number of times a tool was returned for a change because some knothead on the production line figured out the stupidest new way to load a part wrong. It was common to insert an "idiot pin" in a spot whose only function was to block the part from being loaded improperly. Some older tools had 2 idiot pins in them, which illustrated the futility of intelligent planning in view of the same truth stated by Dan.

[Captain]

My father was a Design Engineer at Allis Chalmers in the Heavy Industrial Div.
But also they handled the Military Contracts.
He said the Scariest Thing was "DUMBING DOWN" the Operation and Service Manuals to a 8th Grade Reading Level !!!!
World War Three is in the Hands of a High School Drop Out !!

[pdub]

He said the Scariest Thing was "DUMBING DOWN" the Operation and Service Manuals to a 8th Grade Reading Level !!!!

I spent the last half of my career writing procedures. It came with some schooling for the technique. 8th grade is the mandatory "it" across the board for manuals. There's the Gunning's Fog Index for a tool where you look at what you wrote and measure how long the sentences are, how many words are more than two syllables, etc., to determine the reading level. I think the theory is that the 8th grade level won't necessarily insult folks who think higher and hopefully it won't confuse the folks who don't like to read at all and therefore never read unless they have to.

[JRoberts]

I spent the last half of my career writing procedures. It came with some schooling for the technique. 8th grade is the mandatory "it" across the board for manuals. There's the Gunning's Fog Index for a tool where you look at what you wrote and measure how long the sentences are, how many words are more than two syllables, etc., to determine the reading level. I think the theory is that the 8th grade level won't necessarily insult folks who think higher and hopefully it won't confuse the folks who don't like to read at all and therefore never read unless they have to.

Unfortunately I am not surprised to hear this. It is shameful.

[pdub]

Unfortunately I am not surprised to hear this. It is shameful.

The approach is that if you know the audience is going to be "everybody," you have to aim low. The folks who came up with the GFI insisted that the range 7-8 is ideal for technical reading. This started back in WWII when all of a sudden a whole lot of people had to be trained in a whole lot of production-type tasks in a big hurry. Like housewives building airplanes. The training industry hasn't changed a whole lot in principle since then. The goal is task competency and move on to the next task. At a paper mill I heard a supervisor tell a worker who asked a question about a task, "I don't care HOW you do it, as LONG as you do it." Now THAT's scary to me in that environment, but I won't get started on an hours long dissertation about training. I'm retired but I actually enjoyed a whole lot if it, the training development part. Unfortunately I assumed a lot more duties than just that.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

The approach is that if you know the audience is going to be "everybody," you have to aim low. The folks who came up with the GFI insisted that the range 7-8 is ideal for technical reading. This started back in WWII when all of a sudden a whole lot of people had to be trained in a whole lot of production-type tasks in a big hurry. Like housewives building airplanes. The training industry hasn't changed a whole lot in principle since then. The goal is task competency and move on to the next task. At a paper mill I heard a supervisor tell a worker who asked a question about a task, "I don't care HOW you do it, as LONG as you do it." Now THAT's scary to me in that environment, but I won't get started on an hours long dissertation about training. I'm retired but I actually enjoyed a whole lot if it, the training development part. Unfortunately I assumed a lot more duties than just that.

Wow, telling someone in a paper mill something like that. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that they had a high incidense of people paper, that's where someone falls in a beater tank and all that comes out is bones, if lucky.

[pdub]

Wow, telling someone in a paper mill something like that. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that they had a high incidense of people paper, that's where someone falls in a beater tank and all that comes out is bones, if lucky.

Sadly, once in the mills I served at. A kid who had no business being there, part of the summer program for employees' college kids. Sort of like stand over there and stay out of the way but he didn't. And yes, not even the first bit of training, not even familiarity with the process and the dangers. A horrible tragedy. That was a long time ago.

I was thrilled to get into training development because I already knew where the gaps were - everywhere. I started in the powerhouse and one night I asked the foreman about a particular component on one of the boilers, what does it do? He looked at me and said, "peewee, you've been here nearly a year. You should already know that." That was his final answer. That's how it was. But now I'm getting into that dissertation about training mode so I'll stop.

[Beagle]

Sign of the times... this is how you have to present information to the lowest common denominator these days:

[pdub]

Sign of the times... this is how you have to present information to the lowest common denominator these days:

Well, there IS that but I might be prone to grab a bag because it's the right color. Just sayin...

[silver_bullet]

Sign of the times... this is how you have to present information to the lowest common denominator these days:

[silver_bullet]

Well, there IS that but I might be prone to grab a bag because it's the right color. Just sayin...

[Captain]

I have had Many A Supervisor answer questions he did NOT even had a Clue Too,
Go Ask a Senior Teamster (or what ever trade), He will bring you Up To Speed........
Experience Is The Best Teacher, Like "Warrant Officers", some of these "Old Timers" HAD THE KNOWLEDGE of an ENCYCLOPEDIA !!!

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

I have had Many A Supervisor answer questions he did NOT even had a Clue Too,
Go Ask a Senior Teamster (or what ever trade), He will bring you Up To Speed........
Experience Is The Best Teacher, Like "Warrant Officers", some of these "Old Timers" HAD THE KNOWLEDGE of an ENCYCLOPEDIA !!!

I agree. I learned from the old men at the paper machinery company on the job, all those decades ago. 2 machinists taught me the proper care and use of precision measuring instruments, oh and if a hammer is needed go big. Let the mass of the hammer do the work, not your arm, you will miss, mash your hand and mangle the workpiece, maybe not in that order.

And Dutch Henningsen, who started off in life as a dockworker, taught me how to tie knots in line, which is still a useful skill today (I was never a boyscout, hate uniforms and being given orders...). And George Carpenter, formerly a Pratt & Whitney trained airplane mechanic, taught me how to stay clean. I know right? Thinking about always getting filthy working on the junk around the old homestead, after seeing how he could come to work in slightly older sports clothing, and only gett in his fingertips slightly dirty was impressive. I still can't hold a candle to his level of cleanliness, but I still strive for it.

[studemax]

Tribal knowledge is what we are talking about....And Captain is correct, many supervisors and middle managers refuse to say the words "I don't know". The good ones do say it, and follow up with "I'll go find out".

This hearkens back to what I posted awhile back about the Peter Drucker MBWA method of management. Managing By Walking Around is how good bosses keep in touch with the production floor staff. Don't sit on your ass in your office - get out and about. Peter said no desks and no chairs in the bosses office - just tables with the needed reading and reference.