by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine
On the song Revolution that appeared on the White Album many
Beatles experts think John Lennon wrote “We
all want to change the world” and “We’d
all love to see the plan” to express his doubts about the methods being
employed by some of the 60s protest movements who wanted to use him as a
sponsor or spokesperson.
I like to consider myself a Beatles expert of sorts and I
think that John may have been trying to tell the maintenance reliability community
something as well. For example:
You say you want a
revolution well you know
We all want to change
the world
Of course we all think that if the world around would only
change – life and work would be so wonderful.
We all imagine what the default future looks like if nothing changes and
sometime s the language we use to describe that future actually plays an
important role in serving that same future to us.. What John wanted us to know is that each one
of us can write a new future by changing the responses we have to world around
us – and in that way – change the world.
You say you got a real
solution, well you know
We'd all love to see
the plan
I think what John is saying is that many of us think we know
the solution to the challenges we face but very few of us have a plan and those
that do have a plan often fail to invite the stakeholders to help write that
plan. You will not be able to move away
from the default future until you invite everyone involved to co-author the
future with you.
You ask me for a
contribution, well you know
We're all doing what
we can...
In his infinite wisdom John Lennon is telling us not to wait
for someone else to contribute. If you begin
with your own contribution, you will find it is much easier to get others to
contribute.
You say you'll change
the constitution, well you know
We all want to change
your head
One way to look at John’s message here is to consider
changing the language we use to describe how situations occur to us. The words we choose to describe things often create
the future reality for us. Try to
describe a challenge in a new way that includes possibility for change or
improvement. Try it again.
You tell me it's the
institution, well you know
You better free your
mind instead
John is letting us know that it is easy to blame “them”,
“management” or “the company” for the way things are. There are many things in this world that you
cannot change however you have a choice about how your respond to things and
what words your use to describe them.
John also seemed to know that if you read every article in
every issue of Uptime Magazine:
Don't you know it's
gonna be Alright
Don't you know it's
gonna be Alright
Don't you know it's
gonna be Alright
