Moving to a Mapped World

~From the Subliminal to the Obvious
~Getting Intuitive Process into the Institutional Memory
By Sorrel Jakins
Disclaimer: 2 Ne. 33:1
Rescued hikers talk about ordeal May 30th, 2008 @ 12:04pm (KSL News). Alan Humphrey and his wife, Iris Faraklas, are experienced hikers and wanted a challenge, so they planned a 45-mile backpacking trip through a rugged area of the canyon called Royal Arch; but in the end, the two had to rely on their survival skills until help arrived.
Humphrey said, “It’s a difficult place. You get down in these canyons and they are identical canyon to canyon. You get down there and it looks totally different than it does up here.” One wrong turn and their search for adventure started to feel more like an episode of survivor. “No matter how prepared you are and how experienced you are, you can make mistakes,” Humphrey said.
The mistake was a missed exit point on the trail. Once they realized they were lost, they decided to put together a survival strategy to ration food and water, a move that may have saved their lives since another five days would pass before searchers would find them.
Many times we follow an intuitive process map that is in our head, and sometimes we take a wrong turn. We rely on our experience to tell us when we are headed into a dead-end and we make adjustments to get back on track.
If the ranger had given the Humphrey’s a map, they might have not missed the turn. If they had a map, they did not follow its directions. Just because you understand your process doesn’t mean others do.
What the Process Navigation Team hopes to achieve is documenting and standardizing on process so that we achieve greater unity within OIT in our efforts and activities. In doing so we will improve consistency and reduce the bottleneck effect where we rely completely on a single person.