A few weeks ago I posted what would appear to be my most popular blog to date. “Things I have switched off and got in trouble for” Maybe my readers found the tales of myself trying to justify my actions amusing.
At the end of that blog I mentioned the words “Act without hesitation” Which I feel is incredibly important in regards to so many situations in life. Including of course reducing energy consumption. Hence, I have dedicated an entire blog to just this subject.
Act Without Hesitation
At this point I feel I should tell you why I began blogging. It started following a telephone conversation to a very good friend. We shall call this friend “Arnold”. Arnold is an aspiring photographer and had the idea of creating a blog which would sell the many somewhat undiscovered walks and places he often explored whilst out with his camera.
I thought this was a fantastic idea and way of drawing people to his web page. Arnold enthusiastically spoke for an hour, talking me through his plans. I offered to proof read any drafts Arnold had and suggested he emailed them to me.
A few weeks after our conversation I reminded Arnold about emailing me the drafts, which he said he would. That text message was sent again a couple of times in the following weeks and each time Arnold assured me he would send me a draft.
Seeing the obvious potential blogging represented, I decided to publish my own Energy blog. Admittedly, I went through the same self-doubts of….
What do I know?.. Who’s going to read my blog?.... What will other people think?.. Blah, Blah, yes you have guessed it Blah!
However, I took confidence in knowing that I had planned my blog. I also realised that as with so many things in life the most difficult thing is starting. But not just that. Once you do make a start momentum always follows.
Have you ever noticed that when you start tidying up at home you end doing more than you set out to? That’s because you inevitably see other stuff you need to take care of. That is how momentum works.
Regarding Arnold, I really hope he follows up on his blog idea as I think it has real potential. My advice to him is…….
Done, is far better than perfect.
Once you have completed that first piece of work or taken that first step you can then evaluate. Learn from the mistakes you have made and apply that knowledge to your next step. If you continually refuse to finish something claiming it is not perfect. You will never get anywhere, because you never make the mistakes that teach you how to improve.
So how does this all relate to reducing our energy consumption? Well it relates massively!!!!
Some of the many energy experiments I have undertaken have began as an idea. I knew for example, that reduces the lux settings on the external lighting would save energy. But I had no idea how it would impact on the building or building security. But I acted without hesitation and did it anyway. As my last blog told you, some experiments worked, others didn’t. Did I learn from my experiences? Yes, on both occasions.
Time for an example. When Jose Mourinho first took charge of Chelsea football club. He was applauded for the speed of which he would make changes to his team during a game once he saw an opportunity.
Having followed football I am aware that often when other managers see an opportunity they like to observe and dwell on their options before making that change. This is from the somewhat reserved old school style of football management.
Jose Mourinho came along and Chelsea are Premier League Champions twice in his first two seasons. Why? because his management style acted without hesitation. He also trained his team to be able to switch formations fluently mid-game.
In doing so he was applying a control strategy to his team that enabled them to respond to a changing game quickly. This thinking applies to energy management.
Previously, I have spoke about air handling systems in sports halls being controlled via a one size fits all approach. What if that air handling system was controlled via air quality and Co2 sensors? The system would then sense the rising temperature and Co2 level created by a 5-a-side game, for example and respond.
The same system would then also see that an archery session required significantly less volumes of fresh air and would respond again and in doing so would save energy. The system I have described above is an automated control system that if designed and commissioned correctly will act without hesitation and eliminate energy waste.
Acting without hesitation sends a message that you are leading by example. Have you ever said?
“I didn’t want to turn that off because I thought I would get in trouble”
“I thought about mentioning that, but didn’t as I was worried I would look stupid”
When you start to ask questions or challenge the modus operandi you build momentum. This is because the first question typically leads to second and third questions. Therefore, by failing to ask the first question, you are holding yourself back and or standing still.
But not only that, those questions have a tendency to ignite ideas, which leads to more questions and even more ideas. Do you see where I am going with this? And ideas are the currency of the future. So get off your arse and start acting without hesitation.
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