Right

Let me tell you about the new kettle – stick with it, there is a point in here somewhere.

There are several people in the office who like their hot drinks made in certain ways. The look of anguish on a coffee drinker’s face as a tea drinker lets the kettle roar past 90°C and straight to boiling knowing full well the coffee they are about to get “served” will be burned and unpleasant. Imagine the pain caused in the green-tea drinker when their water was supposed to stop being heated at 80°C.

In the end it led to carnage as more tools and equipment were brought in by various people to make their drink of preference. Then some bright spark found an overly expensive kettle with different temperature settings and the office angst (and electricity bill) came down somewhat. Five tiny buttons on one device have solved our collective gripe without the need for fancy coffee makers or water heaters.

So how special is this kettle? It isn’t really, they’ve been making them for years. But to us it holds the highest sentimental value because it means we can get the right temperature for each drink in the round – albeit some planning needs to go into it, but that’s what we do for a living, so it rarely goes wrong.

What’s the point again?

Yes, the point. The point is, this all revolves around having the right tool for the job and how much easier having that tool can make it for everyone involved. 

How many times have you been doing something with a tool not quite up to the task at hand (or in some cases operating well outside of design parameters – see knife as screwdriver) and while the job sort of gets done, it feels a bit jury-rigged and rather than be proud of the work you’re just happy its over? 

 Yes, the kettle cost a more, but now we can have six different drinks made using one piece of kit and in much less time than it takes for six individuals to make their own – or the person who made the round having to go back and do it properly because coffee tastes awful when made with boiling water…

I digress. 

Often having the specialist tools or equipment comes with an expense, but that expense needs to be considered across the broad range of safety, time, and the cost of mistakes and rectifying those mistakes. And the moral of all this is: If you have a job that needs doing, you need to have the skills, tools, and equipment to do it properly. 

Firstly, because it makes the job safer as you aren’t trying to get something to “sort of work” at doing a job it wasn’t designed for – it’s usually quicker as well. Second getting something right and knowing it was done properly from the start leads to pride in the workmanship, and proper lessons learned. Thirdly, the reduction or elimination of mistakes means the job doesn’t have to be carried out a second time to get right which reduces risk of failure and reduces the overall cost of the job.

If you wish to view our problem-solving kettle in action, get in touch and we can arrange an appointment.