Little story. When I got laid off, I eventually ended up in a different facility doing completely different work that had been done the same way for decades, with the same machines. The old timers fought all the new machines coming in that produced parts within much tighter tolerances. Not much more difficult to run, but still different. Here's where it gets interesting. LOTS of procedures in place to assure good parts were being made, yet some wouldn't follow procedures very well. What was done about it? Come up with another procedure.....that would then not get followed. I saw this done numerous times, until I couldn't take it anymore. During a team meeting, I suggested that maybe new procedures wouldn't be needed if the old ones were actually adhered to (I wasn't quite so diplomatic in my wording). My "suggestion" was fluffed off. I like to use a slight variation to this...."You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make him/her think." No answers here, but this is a tough thing to deal with. Education at the earliest possible time in a person's life is the best course (usually). Some can learn on their own (as I began to do when the wood wouldn't light well), where others need some help. Still, there are those who stick to their guns because they've always done things a certain way, then pass that "knowledge" on. I'll stop now.
