RE: New team member

Hi Norm-

I read an interesting article recently about how lazy the brain is. Given the chance it will avoid doing all kinds of things, including remember things if it knows the data is available elsewhere (day planner, e.g.). I think one of the theories is that because it consumes such a great percentage of our metabolism for its weight (2 percent of total body weight but consuming around 20 percent of cardiac/oxygen output) it avoids being a greater resource hog given the chance.

At least that's a more charitable way of trying to view people than the easier way - that we're like those lazy little blobs in the movie "Wall-E."

Anyway, to make it more work relevant:

> it seems much more common to pick up the phone or email for instant gratification that trying to work it out. Or is that just me?

I think it's only perception. We're only aware of the former people. We never experience the latter.  Even so - is it possible to design a Help system good enough that people prefer it over an email? Typing an email and waiting for an answer is often worse than using Google. Yet many still do it. I think it's because we're interactive by nature. We wouldn't have gotten off the Serengeti otherwise. Autonomy is more self-delusion than reality, say the social biologists.

To roll in the other thread:

> That makes perfect sense. If I may add to point 2, put it online but make sure it's also available for offline use?

That's exactly what I think we need to do.

Thanks much,
Mark

 
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Norman Dunbar
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 2:53 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [toad] New team member

Morning Mark,

On 06/02/12 15:29, Mark Lerch wrote:
> I try to catch myself and others when making these blanket statements
> ("people never...")
Ok, how to dig myself out of this one? Let's try .... When I said people 
it didn't mean the set of all people, just a subset of same.

For example, at the SuperBowl thingy I believe you guys had the other 
day. There were "lots" of people there but let's say a group iof 20 or 
so decided to have a BBQ. Someone may have said "look at those people 
having a BBQ over there".

(I'll stop now - it's not working!)

> A large number of people read the FAQ's, a huge number of people read
> the docs. As a percentage of overall Toad users, very few come here to
> the boards and ask.
You obviously have better customers than the ones I'm used to. My lot - 
since around the early eighties when I first moved into Tech Support - 
never read anything, even when spoon fed information in Tech Notices 
etc, they always picked up the phone and called me. My best one was on 
an ICL mainframe, from a senior analyst:

SA: What does "Error 31501 required object could not be found" mean?
Me; What were you trying to do?
SA: Edit a file.
Me: <clenched teeth> It means the file you tried to edit is not there.
SA: Hangs up.

(How sad is it that I still remember the error number after all these 
years?)

I'm afraid that my experience of people is simple, we are lazy and would 
much prefer someone else to do our thinking for us. Not everyone, I 
admit, but it seems much more common to pick up the phone or email for 
instant gratification that trying to work it out. Or is that just me?

But I agree, on the whole, avoid sweeping generalisations.


-- 
Cheers,
Norm. [TeamT]


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