Summary – Trust is a must in working, but need to evaluate once in a while
Yesterday I learnt a valuable lesson from my day’s job. Sharing here, maybe you guys have better advice for me.
THE ITEMS INVOLVED
The mill has two pumps. In every pump there are two parts, let us named them part A and part B,
THE MISTAKE
One of my staff told me that the two pumps are under repair. Apparently Pump 1 had a faulty part A, and pump 2 had a faulty part B. So both cannot run.
I believe the staff. Solution would be simple. Dismantle both pump and use part A and B which is still in good condition in one pump. So technically I will then have one running pump and one faulty pump.
So I sent my foreman to go there and do that. The foreman came back and say that the information is wrong.
There are two pumps, but pump 1 is still in good condition. Pump 2 is not (both the faulty part A and B is from pump 2)
THE RESULT
A bit embarassed that I sent people to repair without knowing exactly what’s the problem. The staff is called and I later learn that he may misunderstand the whole problem.
THE EXCUSE
1) I am actually very busy for the past one week. Don’t have time to check everything myself.
2) It will be not efficient for me to do everything. I’m delegating task, and in order to do that, I will need to trust my staff
THE LESSON LEARNT
1) I have to recheck my staff credibility from time to time. Cannot just trust them entirely
2) My staff need to know that I’m checking on them. That way, they will think twice before giving me wrong information. It is always better to admit not knowing, than to lie
Do you think the lesson learnt is accurate? Or do you have any other advice for me (and for other friends reading this)?
————— Personal Note ————————–
Mistake happen all the time in any job, As long as lesson learnt it should be ok.I am currently back in KL for the charity tomorrow. So I am posting this entry from my phone. Please excuse all typo and allignment error. They will be sorted out.
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The way you are looking at this experience as a way to improve your working practice is great.
wah great great exp there.
as usual, in malay:
kekadang tu better do what we say as double check, example, my operator said..mesin tu rosak, punches are stuck to the plate, [we know the main problem], ask the other technician, go check the machine, i believe the error is ….but go and check…[ask to recheck] okay boss, the problem is, as u said earlier, yess the punches are…..and…..
okay so take out the bla bla bla
[solution]
that is my way, two people will only tell lies(?) wrong info if there are making up stories, kalau benda betul mesti tak sama….
just my humble opinion
ppl did mistake. so do i.
dat’s why ppl said, plz re-re-re confirm to make sure evryhng wuz ok in future..
greenearth – there was time when i make a mistake, n i couldnt sleep thinking about it. i later learn that nobody really care, so i decide to stop torturing myself with the guilt n move on.
life too short 🙂
filantera – good way to look at things, if two diff person claim the same thing, they are most probably telling the truth
yanz – the keyword fr ur comment is re re re check 🙂 got it