You get into your vehicle turn the key to start the engine and then it happens. Your dashboard lights up and your eyes scan the dash ... no idiot lights remain illuminated? Good!, Gage needles rest into acceptable states? Great! and the fuel gage shows an acceptable fuel level? YEAH !!!
CONGRATULATIONS !! you just completed a Situation Appraisal.
Situation Appraisal is a thought mode that is constant operating in your brain typically in the back ground. While you are in Situation Appraisal you are seeking, categorizing and prioritizing concerns. Yes, we all do this and we are doing this always ... but perhaps nobody has articulated how your brain is functioning.
These concerns can typically be categorized as follows:
A PROBLEM to be solved
A DECISION to be made
A POTENTIAL PROBLEM to solve
A POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITY to leverage
A concern is a feeling you get that makes you feel that you have to take an action. Depending on the significance of the concern it may add a sense of urgency.
Great Situation Appraisal capability is a skill learned. Doctor's analyzing symptoms to defining a potential cause. A mechanic listening to sounds, and detecting smells to determine what is wrong with the equipment. Even First-Aiders and First Responders do it when they arrive on scene before commencing any corrective action.
Once a concern has been identified and categorized then the observer needs ....
to define priority
who all needs to be involved.
But not all concerns may have the same sense of priority depending on the observer. A client contacted us with a high sense of urgency explaining they were moving into a new facility and required help with the layout of their warehouse. Once we toured the facility we quickly realized the warehouse layout was not as much of a concern as was their assembly operation.
We changed their focus towards assembly and once they could see what what we had observed our concerns quickly became aligned. We focused on improving the assembly process reducing throughput from 3-4 days on average to a consistent 15 minutes.
Now our Situation Appraisal has us focused on Material conveyance which will encompass warehousing operations.
Now hopefully you realize that you are constantly processing in Situation Appraisal mode and to improve and expand your Appraisal capability consider including us..
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