Planning and People (2)
Case No.4
The manager of a large office building had received many complaints about the lift service in the building. He engaged a group of engineers to study the situation and make recommendations for improvement. The engineers suggested two alternative solutions:
1. Adding more lifts of the same types;
2. Replacing the existing lifts by faster ones.
The manager decided that both alternative solutions were too expensive. So the firm’s psychologist offered to study the problem. He noticed that many people arrived at their offices feeling angry and impatient. The reason they gave was the length of time they had to wait for the lift. However, the psychologist was impressed by the fact that they had only had to wait a relatively short time. It occurred to him Cartier Santos Replica that the reason for their annoyance was the fact they had to stand by the lifts inactive. He suggested a simple, inexpensive solution to the manager. This was adopted and complaints stopped immediately. The solution was to place a large mirror next to the lifts.
Three of these cases show failure, and one success. What conclusions can be made about the decision involved? First, in any decision, some considerations are more relevant than others. It is a mistake to attempt to solve a problem in engineering terms when the problem is a psychological one. Similarly, it is wrong to concentrate on the social effects of a new invention if it is mechanically inadequate. It is a mistake to attempt to improve one part of a system if the whole system has to be changed.
Secondly, there is a more fundamental question. A solution may be technically very crude but will work because people are enthusiastic about it. Some projects predict negative human reactions but are unable to persuade people that the project is right. Other projects fail be-cause of indifference–people neither like it nor dislike it–they just do not think it is necessary. A project will be successful only if the people involved Omega Replica Watches believe that it is necessary and valuable for their own lives.
Some people believe that in these cases the plans are right but the people are wrong. History, however, has shown this belief to be dangerous.
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