Hitting the Nail on the Head … or Not
- Post By: Greg Crumpton
- Date:
- Category: Blog
The Folklore: Everyone has heard the old saying, “Everything looks like a nail if your only tool is a hammer”. That kept dinging around in my head over the last few months as we have been working with a potential customer-friend to design a new system for him, his company and their investors. For a more finite definition see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument
The Headache: Designing systems is rather common in our HVAC world. You have to consider physics, the laws of nature, and the purpose, then plan everything and develop a design based upon these metrics. What happens when one of these parameters is so far outside the norm that it is baffling? If you are human, the typical reaction is to pull out your hammer and hit the proverbial nail. Man, did we ever hit it, then hit it and then finally, hit some more. It didn’t work. It couldn’t work would be more accurate. What to do?
The What Now? After counsel with friends in the industry, really bright engineers and Dr. Vino, it was decided that we did not actually have a “nail”, we had a screw . Essentially, we had to “Step away from the hammer”. What was needed here was a screwdriver.
The Break-Through Moment: After a few rounds of thinking with a screwdriver in mind, most of us on this team of assembled journeyman were able to change our way of thinking about the problem. Once we understood, I mean deeply understood, what the needs of this project were, we were able to look it at the challenges through a new lens. Due to the unique operating characteristics of this “to be built” facility, the old tried and true ways of design had to be thrown out.
The Challenge: For us, it was that we all had an idea in our heads of what this should look like based solely on history, industry norms, etc. None of that mattered in this case. In our CFD modeling, we were running hotter, faster, more densely and consuming electricity at an unparalleled rate. The old rules simply would not apply here.
The Take Away: Having history in a particular field, or area within a field is super, but don’t let the historical views cloud your vision that could see new frontiers on the horizon.
The Parting Blow: Take a step back, look at it from all different sides and imagine all the ways to solve the issue. Then, and only then, go to the tool box and grab the right tool the first time.
