Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/410144
64 The PCB Magazine • November 2014 they will often demonstrate their knowledge and intelligence by describing all sorts of facts and figures that have nothing to do with the problem, though it might sound like it. The in- tent is to show how much smarter they are than you. Then with this proof, QED, no solution ex- ists. My first order of business was to ban this type of discussion. Let's move on to the vulnerability part. If people don't trust each other, if they feel unsafe because something that they do or say could be used against them, then there will be no hope, because there will be nobody willing to stick out their necks and make an effort that is full of errors and shortcomings. Finding a solution to a complex problem entails going down a rough road of dead ends, false starts, mistakes, and blunders. But with each error-prone experi- ence comes new learning and eventually the discoveries that will crush the problem. When people are unwilling to be vul- nerable, because it is unsafe to do so, you will not have a team of problem-solvers. Instead you will have a collection of tortoises hidden away in their shells unable to do anything but collect their paychecks. Once the vulnerability issue was solved (and this took a great deal of work with my engineering team, which I will save for a future article), I had to inspire the group; we chose to call ourselves the cavemen. We physi- cally knocked down walls in the plant, removed all of the cubes, put in tables, and made one large wall a giant whiteboard. This new cavern was a place where we could all meet for our problem-solving adventures as a band of cave- men brothers. And we absolutely saw what we did as an adventure. To get this thing rolling, I explained to each of them that they were about to embark upon a quest, not unlike Joseph Campell's "Hero's Journey." They would be very different people after they had slain their prob- lem. In this adventure, they would experience individual growth. They would emerge smarter and be more confident. At first the engineers were dubious, but with the natural interaction that occurred in our cave, and after finding that each failure led to a new understanding and perspective, they started to see for themselves that there was a solution to the DAM problem that they previously thought was completely and utterly unsolvable. With the first success came a contagious optimism, a belief that anything was possible by working and thinking together. Let's look at the mastermind. Clearly, it is my belief that tough problems require ask- ing for help, because one per- son can't do it. You might say that Albert Einstein is an ex- ample of someone doing it all by himself, but this is not true. Einstein asked for the help of Marcel Grossmann, a highly skilled mathematician, and they collaborated in the devel- opment of the general theory of relativity. In order to have a master- mind with my engineers, I had to explain what the master- mind was and how to do it. I am not going to share all of the steps here, but I will mention a few things. First, a mastermind is a meeting of the minds. Second, why-based questions are banned not only in the mastermind, but in any discourse. Third, all of the facts concerning the problem must be presented accurately and be verifiable. A while ago I wrote an article concerning my thoughts on why-based questions and how they do not get at the facts, but instead put people on the defensive. Suffice it to say that why-based questions are personal. On the other hand, what-based questions focus on the gath- ering of facts. If you don't believe me, just ask an operator, "Why did you do that?" Observe what happens and note how much information you received. Ask the same operator, "What did you do?" Again observe what happens and note how much information you received. I can't SOLvING A TRuE DAM PROBLEM continues Finding a solution to a complex problem entails going down a rough road of dead ends, false starts, mistakes, and blunders. But with each error- prone experience comes new learning and eventually the discoveries that will crush the problem. " "