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Five Things They Don’t Teach You at Automation School: Rule 2

I always wanted to do a bungee jump.  But if I was going to do it then it had to look good.  I didn’t want any flailing arms or a look of panic on my face.  It had to be the coolest bungee jump ever seen.

The pre-title sequence to the James Bond film Goldeneye set the bar for me.  In that stunt he bungee jumps from the top of a dam with the perfect swallow dive.

But how can you focus on the jump itself if you are worried about what might happen, what if this bit breaks or that bit is loose?  The only way to deal with this is to know your subject inside out, knowledge is power.  In my case that meant watching everything the instructors were doing, how they tightened up the harnesses, how they selected the right rope, how many times I get weighed and so on.

So up I went in the crane until I am swinging high above a lake, I shuffled to the front of the cage as the door is opened and 1, 2, 3 I’m off.  The perfect swallow dive!

So what is Automation Rule #2?

Do your homework and know your equipment.  Make sure you understand everything you can about what you are about to do.  Then armed with that knowledge you can commit 100% to the job in hand.  You can leave behind the niggling doubts that will stop you performing at your best when it really matters.

Good luck!