My late father was an engineer. In the 60’s and 1970’s this was his mantra to his engineers the one "What are we missing here?” was his favourite.
He wanted them to look beyond the initial solution and to make sure they had considered all the options to make sure as he said. As engineers we may be missing something blazingly obvious that imperils our design and how it works.
He encouraged them to look at how the design and the product could fail. If they couldn’t he said that all human designs have flaws because sometimes a design is a compromise just make sure yours doesn’t kill someone.
I’ve used the phrase when I’m doing lessons learned retrospectives and as you say keep silent. Sometimes it’s the silence that encourages human beings to fill the vacuum even if it is left field.
My late father was an engineer. In the 60’s and 1970’s this was his mantra to his engineers the one "What are we missing here?” was his favourite.
He wanted them to look beyond the initial solution and to make sure they had considered all the options to make sure as he said. As engineers we may be missing something blazingly obvious that imperils our design and how it works.
He encouraged them to look at how the design and the product could fail. If they couldn’t he said that all human designs have flaws because sometimes a design is a compromise just make sure yours doesn’t kill someone.
I’ve used the phrase when I’m doing lessons learned retrospectives and as you say keep silent. Sometimes it’s the silence that encourages human beings to fill the vacuum even if it is left field.
There is power in asking "why", "what", and "how". Seeking understanding as a core value can lead to insights unimagined before.