The Answer Guy. I have made a career out of answering questions and solving problems, proactively as well as in crises. (I have always done a lot of work proactively. My philosophy: It is better to solve problems BEFORE they happen.)
My work has also been in developing best practices (especially in graphics / prepress production environments). Any production process requires stricter conformity for repeatability and opportunities to automate. Knowing what must be tightly controlled, where there is room for flexibility, and being able to foresee the consequences of these assessments is critical to the long-term success of a project. (You do NOT want to backwards maintenance years of work over a bad call – though it happens to the best of us. And the maintenance problem is also another opportunity for automating the fix!)
- NOTE: My philosophy on automation: You should not automate a process that cannot be done manually. In the event of automation failure (software, hardware, act of God, etc.), a process should be able to continue at whatever pace is possible while the issue is being addressed. Secondly, you should NOT automate a bad process. Replicating an inefficient process is never as effective as examining and designing a better process.
Also, I have always been involved in training and ad-hoc support, again much of it focused on graphics and prepress / software training. I strongly advocate training employees to be more highly skilled and effective over hiring low-paid employees and giving them push-button solutions. When “the button doesn’t work”, these unskilled employees do not have the skills to follow a manual process while “the button” is being fixed. I also believe in strengthening the employees skills for their own professional and personal pride. This often opens opportunities for them, internally and externally, in the job market.
