Pull the Andon Cord!

You know the old saying, A guy on his own can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real idiocy, it takes teamwork? It's not true.

Ok, it's not always true.

But these ideas of Crew Resource Management......If you See Something, Say Something, etc..... have become popular and theoretically embraced in high functioning teams literature.

Drive a Toyota? Yeah me too. And there's a reason for that - Toyotas are consistent, reliable, and get you down the road. Or off-road, in some cases.

Part of Toyota's success can be attributed to the Jidoka manufacturing philosophy, which, in part, empowered anyone and everyone to either pause or stop operations in the event of a quality, process, or safety concern along every step of the way. In a hierarchical culture, it set an even, if perhaps uncomfortable, playing field of responsibility to all employees. Implicit in this was a respect afforded to even the most junior worker.

An essential element of this philosophy was the Andon Cord. The Andon Cord was a pull-cord near every station that would set off a series of lights or alarms to alert the team(s) and supervisor of an issue. A "stop and fix" situation. If the issue can be quickly resolved, the worker can again pull the cord to continue operations or manufacturing.

One of the small parts of genius with the Andon Cord is that it does not require the operator or participant to yell out or offer some speech to pause production. It is an omnipresent, frictionless barrier for even a shy individual - the pause or halt is focused on the process or operating line rather than the individual.

So.

Imagine an Andon Cord on every backcountry skier or rider's backpack: airbag trigger handle on one shoulder strap, Andon Cord on the other. Or on a client's backpack in the backcountry. Or rescuers on a technical alpine rescue. Or a Cord in the operating room.

Thoughts?

Orion beckoned from the southern sky Monday night. The Fall Equinox. You may remember a previous Meditation, Taking Communion with Orion.