by Bernard McGrath, Inspection Validation Centre
There has been some good news as I write this: there looks to have been an agreement between the tanker drivers’ union and their employers so that the threat of strike has diminished. How did you fare when the strike ballot result was first announced? Did you follow David Cameron’s advice? Did you have to queue to fill up your tank? Whilst watching or listening to news items about the possibility of a strike, there seemed to be a media collusion to ask any politician interviewed what their advice was to drivers. Maybe there has, finally, been the realisation that politicians do not answer questions. But if you ask them for advice they have to respond, as they can’t be seen to be unwilling to provide assistance. So, they were asked: “What advice do you have for the motorist in this situation (ie the possibility of a tanker drivers’ strike)?” And when they prevaricated, they were pushed: “The motorists want to know what to do, what advice can you give them?”
Now, if the questioners had not been cosseted in their studios, or even if they had listened to their own bulletins, they would have realised that the motorist didn’t need advice on what to do because they were all in queues at the petrol stations! And, if the politicians had been able to think quickly, they would have advised the motorists to advise themselves. It wasn’t exactly a difficult problem to solve, was it?
Last month I asked: “What value experience?” But experience is only useful to a wider group if that experience is passed on to the group. One vehicle for transmitting the benefit of experience is through advice. Now, I know that, in addition to the misuse of advice that I have written about above, advice historically has a bad press. One only has to look at the quotations that can be found on giving advice:
- “The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde
- “Many receive advice, few profit by it.” – Publilius Syrus
- “I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.” – G K Chesterton
- “No-one wants advice – only corroboration.” – John Steinbeck
The other benefit of advice is that it is not as aggressive as ‘recommendations’ or ‘guidelines’, or as vague as ‘best practice’. It openly puts the power firmly in the hands of the advisee to accept or reject. There are siblings and children who will always reject it and have to find out for themselves, but finding out for yourself in a technical profession is not always the best way. In addition, receiving technical advice doesn’t take away an individual’s need to think for themselves. The advice has to be assessed for its appropriateness to a particular situation and, if accepted, the advisee has to take responsibility for following it. Similarly, if the advice is rejected, the advisee may need to provide justification for doing so.
As my many previous attempts to get you to provide an input to NDT News have failed miserably, I am going to hope that Francois de La Rochefoucauld was correct when he said: “There is nothing men are so generous of as advice.” So, what has been the best piece of advice relevant to NDT that you have received? “Don’t do it!” and “Get out!” will not be accepted!
Please note that the views expressed in this column are the author’s own personal ramblings for the purpose of encouraging discussion within the NDT Newspaper. They do not represent the views of the IVC, Serco Assurance or the HSE who funded the PANI projects.
Letters can be mailed to The Editor, NDT News, Newton Building, St George’s Avenue, Northampton NN2 6JB. Fax: 01604 89 3861; Email: ndtnews@bindt.org or email Bernard McGrath direct at Bernard.McGrath@sercoassurance.com
