Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Start at the beginning and build from there. That sure is boring. That is the standard configuration. If, however, resources are scarce and the desire to accomplish new work is high, it is a good place to start.

I recently restarted a new job. That is a long story for another day. Part of that story was the “onboarding” process. That is the stuff you do the first week on a new job. New insurance, new email, new computer (if you are lucky or unlucky depending on how you look at it), and relearning all the usual things. If you are really unlucky (as I was), the onboarding took over a month. Yikes.

Now we come to the standard configuration. “Ah, you are new. Your job has unique traits, but it also fits into the same old stuff that most jobs have. Let’s apply the standard configuration to you and then modify it to fit your uniqueness.”

That was simple to write. Somehow, however, it seems difficult to do because it wasn’t done for me in this restarted new job. Everything onboarded for me was unique to start and unique to modify and unique to struggle and … I don’t like being unique. It is too frustrating for me. That is especially true as others felt I should be accomplishing real work.

The standard configuration comes from the standard operating procedure.

Step 1: reset the system to the standard configuration.

Step 2: see the flowchart on page 2 of the standard operating procedure.

Step 3: decide where you want to go on the flowchart.

Step 4: change the standard configuration to fit your needs.

Boring? Yes, it is boring. It does, however, work well. It is an old, old, and even older procedure that worked way back then and still works today. After the first week, you are accomplishing real work.

All these “standard” things (standard operating procedure, standard configuration, standard standards, etc.) come from lessons learned. And we all want to be part of a “learning organization,” right? Isn’t that still something that is bandied about these days? Just more standard stuff (that works).