RE: New team member

Lazy? I prefer to call it efficient.

 

Although Google makes searching much easier these days than it has been
in the past, I often find it faster to ask someone who knows. Why search
through all the clutter for the wheel when my neighbor knows where it is
(or how to make one)?

 

Thanks for all your help through the years. I hope I haven't abused the
gift.

 

Dan

 

Daniel B Madvig
Campus Technologies

 

  <http://nwc.edu/> 

Northwestern College & Northwestern Media
3003 Snelling Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55113
www.nwc.edu
<http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=3003+Snelling+Ave.&csz=S
t.+Paul%2C+MN+55113&country=us> 

651.631.5323

		
	

 

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Mark Lerch
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:44 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [toad] 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:toad%40yahoogroups.com>  [mailto:
[email protected] <mailto:toad%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of
Norman Dunbar
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 2:53 AM
To: [email protected] <mailto:toad%40yahoogroups.com> 
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]

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links