Information wants to be free
I swear I didn't want this to happen, and I hope I can deal with the consequences. It happened much faster than I feared it might. I just can't help myself :-(
After 2 1/2 hours (count them) at the RDA just trying to learn how to be the humblest of minions, something has been bugging me:
Learned:
1. The most useful thing I can learn is which horse is which. No-one else seemed to know either.
That and the fact that the secretary, office manager and head coach all--once they found out what I do for a living--immediately encouraged me to express my opinion about potential organisational improvements. No, no, said I; I just want to groom horses and fetch tack.
But. It's just that it kind of leapt out at me that a lot of time, effort and confidence* is wasted because the people responsible (and I use the term loosely since it's a collective/volunteer organisation) for putting the right horse with the right gear under the right rider at the right time can't identify the horses.
There's a perfectly reasonable system in place to put horse names with rider names at lesson times (it's called a blackboard and it does the job), but putting the actual horses on the ground is the weak point.
"We need Pedro for the next lesson. Um, is that Pedro? Is Pedro in? Is that Pedro's gear?"
There are two floating populations to complicate things: the volunteer pool is constantly shifting so knowledge comes and goes, and the horses seem to change often enough to confuse even the regulars. There's old tack cluttering up the place, and recycled tack with old names; some horses have multiple sets of tack for different types of lessons.
Then there's the knowledge base about individual horses: You can't put A and B in the same lesson or paddock. C and D can go in the same lesson but C must always go in front. E is bothered by the wind. F is a reasonable substitute for G. Don't put H in the end stall; she can undo the gate. J and K are friends and mustn't be separated or they'll kick up a fuss. Practical everyday stuff, never mind the longer term vet and farrier information. Feeding requirements are up on another blackboard in the feed shed. If the right food gets to the right horse, then the system works and I'm fine with that.
Those horses need to be in a database. There should be a rogue's gallery of photos in the volunteer room to identify each horse at least by size, colour and markings (and possibly key personality traits). Obsolete names and labels should be purged from the tack room. A long-since de-alphabetised system needs to be re-established. Everything that's supposed to be labelled should be labelled so people can *rely* on that source of information.
Gah, it goes on. I want to emphasise here that I'm not complaining; I'm just automatically assessing and troubleshooting. It's how I'm wired and in my experience it's usually a good thing.
But some improvements would sure as hell make my life as a minion easier, and increase the amount of scheduled lesson time that was spent on actual lessons. For all I know this information is available somewhere, but it hasn't filtered down to the level where it's needed most. It's exactly like an enterprise software deployment: the front-line people are the last to know, and they and the customers suffer the most. But expectations are low and somehow enough gets achieved to keep things ticking on. Frankly it's uncannily similar. Isn't it?
Am I insane? Evil? An efficiency monster? Inhuman or inhumane? Should I try and forget I ever thought these thoughts and try to just fit in? I'd like to subtly investigate, and sneak in improvements, but I don't want to volunteer to reorganise the place, or get trapped in the inevitable political disaster that would result.
Should I just shut up? It's not that I don't want to follow orders. I'd love to follow orders if I could, if the orders were clear.
Granted all this analytical activity is a distinct improvement over last year when I couldn't get my brain started at all (and began to fear I never would), but I'd like a little control over the accelerator as well as the brakes. And can I just pat the horsies? Please?
(*) Every time someone is forced to say "I don't know" when they would be happier knowing is a blow to their confidence.
After 2 1/2 hours (count them) at the RDA just trying to learn how to be the humblest of minions, something has been bugging me:
Learned:
1. The most useful thing I can learn is which horse is which. No-one else seemed to know either.
That and the fact that the secretary, office manager and head coach all--once they found out what I do for a living--immediately encouraged me to express my opinion about potential organisational improvements. No, no, said I; I just want to groom horses and fetch tack.
But. It's just that it kind of leapt out at me that a lot of time, effort and confidence* is wasted because the people responsible (and I use the term loosely since it's a collective/volunteer organisation) for putting the right horse with the right gear under the right rider at the right time can't identify the horses.
There's a perfectly reasonable system in place to put horse names with rider names at lesson times (it's called a blackboard and it does the job), but putting the actual horses on the ground is the weak point.
"We need Pedro for the next lesson. Um, is that Pedro? Is Pedro in? Is that Pedro's gear?"
There are two floating populations to complicate things: the volunteer pool is constantly shifting so knowledge comes and goes, and the horses seem to change often enough to confuse even the regulars. There's old tack cluttering up the place, and recycled tack with old names; some horses have multiple sets of tack for different types of lessons.
Then there's the knowledge base about individual horses: You can't put A and B in the same lesson or paddock. C and D can go in the same lesson but C must always go in front. E is bothered by the wind. F is a reasonable substitute for G. Don't put H in the end stall; she can undo the gate. J and K are friends and mustn't be separated or they'll kick up a fuss. Practical everyday stuff, never mind the longer term vet and farrier information. Feeding requirements are up on another blackboard in the feed shed. If the right food gets to the right horse, then the system works and I'm fine with that.
Those horses need to be in a database. There should be a rogue's gallery of photos in the volunteer room to identify each horse at least by size, colour and markings (and possibly key personality traits). Obsolete names and labels should be purged from the tack room. A long-since de-alphabetised system needs to be re-established. Everything that's supposed to be labelled should be labelled so people can *rely* on that source of information.
Gah, it goes on. I want to emphasise here that I'm not complaining; I'm just automatically assessing and troubleshooting. It's how I'm wired and in my experience it's usually a good thing.
But some improvements would sure as hell make my life as a minion easier, and increase the amount of scheduled lesson time that was spent on actual lessons. For all I know this information is available somewhere, but it hasn't filtered down to the level where it's needed most. It's exactly like an enterprise software deployment: the front-line people are the last to know, and they and the customers suffer the most. But expectations are low and somehow enough gets achieved to keep things ticking on. Frankly it's uncannily similar. Isn't it?
Am I insane? Evil? An efficiency monster? Inhuman or inhumane? Should I try and forget I ever thought these thoughts and try to just fit in? I'd like to subtly investigate, and sneak in improvements, but I don't want to volunteer to reorganise the place, or get trapped in the inevitable political disaster that would result.
Should I just shut up? It's not that I don't want to follow orders. I'd love to follow orders if I could, if the orders were clear.
Granted all this analytical activity is a distinct improvement over last year when I couldn't get my brain started at all (and began to fear I never would), but I'd like a little control over the accelerator as well as the brakes. And can I just pat the horsies? Please?
(*) Every time someone is forced to say "I don't know" when they would be happier knowing is a blow to their confidence.