Productive Sloth
Posted in November 16th, 2007 by Marcelo MoraesLocalization engineering work is often quite repetitive. Simple and repetitive tasks performed manually are not only boring but also unproductive.
Having said that, the engineer needs to be admittedly lazy. We have to think what processes can be automated and transformed into scripts or macros, which could later be performed automatically. What is the benefit of that? When a task is performed automatically, it takes little time, and allows the engineer to dedicate his time to do exactly what he is supposed to do: solve new and unexpected problems, create and develop new scripts to automate everyday tasks, etc.
It goes without saying that not every task can be automated (even those tasks that are seemingly repetitive). A deeper analysis of the workflow of a certain task would show it can be transformed into a logical reasoning with procedures to be followed. The next step is to look for an automation tool (there are many out there, such as the MS Office package Macros and VBA, the QuickKeys application or even the DOS BAT files), develop a function prototype and finally, start testing it. You should also remember that a function must show the mistakes, deficiencies and problems at this stage, for when it enters the translating process, you might not have time to fix all resulting bugs. And the last thing you want is to redo the task manually.
Let us be admittedly lazy then. Let us concentrate on the automation of repetitive and everyday tasks to have more time to think about and work on the tasks that demand wit and logical reasoning.
2009-12-21 at 1.47 pm
I agree with what you wrote here. Have you read Cem Kaner’s books? He is such a great author, I have read all of his books and learned so much from them. I was fortunate enough to see him give a presentation a few years ago on his methodology. He is as good a speaker as he is an author. Do you know of any authors of Kaner’s reputation?