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high-value training is found in all the extra
knowledge students received that they did
not anticipate learning about. is type of
learning is rarely received from on-the-job
training passed down from old-timers and
tribal knowledge.
Education teaches us what we need to
know. Culture and human behavior determine
whether this knowledge will be put to practical
use. Long ago, I learned that lubrication and
reliability are more about human behavior than
anything else. For much more on this, see
my article "Remedies for a Bad Maintenance
Culture" at machinerylubrication.com.
6. Change Must be Enabled
A ll progress depends on change, and
change must be enabled. Crisis is an enabler.
The world 's greatest examples of major
change were all preceded by crises (or chaos).
As they say, "don't let a perfectly good crisis
go to waste."
Of course, the ambition and aspiration
of motivated leaders can also enable change.
Management of change is a field of profes-
sional and academic pursuit. We can't wait
for change to happen by itself. It needs to be
intentional — to be driven into existence.
Of course, there are always those who
prefer things to remain the same. It is human
nature to want to maintain the status quo.
However, today we have much more of a
"change culture" than ever before. ese
are people who study successes, follow and
enable successes and celebrate successes. As
a result, we are seeing excellent examples of
change and progress related to lubrication and
reliability by user organizations. e golden
age is now.
ML
About the Author
Jim Fitch has a wealth of "in the trenches"
experience in lubrication, oil analysis, tribology
and machinery failure investigations. Over the
past two decades, he has presented hundreds
of courses on these subjects. Jim has also
published more than 200 technical articles,
papers and books. He serves as a U.S. delegate
to the ISO tribology and oil analysis working
group. Since 2000, he has been the director and
a board member of the International Council for
Machinery Lubrication. He is the CEO and a
co-founder of Noria Corporation. Contact Jim
at jfitch@noria.com.
ML
"If we don't know
what we don't know,
we can't seek what
we need to know."
