Avionics News August 2022 - 15

The representative of the authority brings
unique perspectives to your workplace. First,
and likely the most valuable insight, is their
observations of other shops - your competitors.
The first area that comes to mind is your authority.
Next to the owners and operators of your business,
and your customers and employees, your authority
(inspector, surveyor, etc.) is the nearest person to your
business. But we often have a filter for what they say.
As a result, we may be hearing them but certainly not
listening to them. And if we don't listen to them, it is
nearly impossible to understand them. Over the years, I
have heard more times than I care to count, " I just want
my inspector to leave so I can get back to doing real
work! " While I understand the sentiment, as a repair
station, the operation of the repair station is real work.
The technical tasks are what the repair station does,
but the operation of the repair station and following the
repair station's quality system is how the repair station
does its technical work.
The representative of the authority brings unique
perspectives to your workplace. First, and likely the
most valuable insight, is their observations of other
shops - your competitors. It would be unethical for
anyone in the authority to share with you how your
competitor (or you to your competitor) operates;
however, when we see an industry best practice,
we tend to generically share that knowledge. Those
subtle references are usually prefaced with statements
like, " have you considered, " or " you might want to
consider, " or " you ought to do... "
Let's go through a scenario relayed to me years
ago. The inspector was performing annual oversight
of a repair station when the inspector pointed to a
trash can (rubbish bin) used to store waste metal
pieces for recycling and said, " You ought to paint
that can red. " While the chief inspector was listening
(or half listening) to the inspector, what he heard and
understood was, " You must paint the waste metal
container red. " The chief inspector immediately got
defensive, because there is no regulation that requires
the color-coding of rubbish bins.
Let's break down this conversation. The inspector
is observing the operations. While performing her
surveillance, she noticed the recycling barrel is
indistinguishable from the trash barrel. Her comment
was, " You ought to paint that can red. "
Without prejudice, I hear her comment and ask, why?
I know the regulations don't require color-coding of
trash bins or require the repair station to differentiate
between trash and recycling, or even differentiate
between trash and small pieces that may still be usable.
In theory, I could simply train everyone appropriately
and continue working.
But what was truly being said? Maybe not said but
meant was something along the lines of, " I can see
where your technicians might get confused which
container is used for rubbish, recycling and metal
storage. Perhaps if you uniquely identified them, it
might help eliminate a future error. " While listening
might not reflect the true meaning, active listening
may have helped better understand (1) the message
and (2) the intent. Training ourselves to actively listen
and being open to ideas offered from any quarter
is a positive direction for process (and business)
improvement.
Continued on page 48
avionics news * august 2022 15
Avionics News August 2022

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