We have a new initiative in Strategic Systems. The Four Pillars. Concepts to help keep things in mind so the fleet doesn't keep screwing things up. Tools left in missiles, doors not bolted down, security violated, and people opening panels just to see what's inside them, interrupting monitoring power to nuclear weapons....
So, we got tasked with writing the introductory lesson. Meaning me.
One of th e pillars is basically learning from other's mistakes.
The three main resources are
) various collections of Lessons Learned, detailing trends and problems in the fleet
) Trouble and Failure Reports, (TFRs) which document specific problems in hardware, software, procedures, etc., and how the crew resolved the issue
) Strat Weapons System Personnel Incident Reports (SWSPIRs), which describe dumbshit decisions some sailor made to try his best to kill himself, or others, or otherwise forgot everything he knew about safety, security, gravity, electrical flow, water pressure, procedural compliance, whatever.
Anyway, i needed a graphic for that pillar. Found this.
Named, from left to right, "Lessons Learned", "TFRs", and "SWSPIRs."
The formal name of the pillar is Critical Assessment, so i named the graphic '4pill_SWSASS.jpg'
I just wanted to make my immediate superiors laugh. Handed it in Thursday, had a doctor appt Friday, expected to get feedback on Monday.
They approved my storyboard and sent it further up the chain for approval. They sent a copy to another contractor, so he could write his manager-level training, seeing what we covered.
ONE person questioned using the word 'ASS' in the title, my leaders defended it, as it's only a working title. The students will just see it on screen in the computer based training, not knowing the name.
All week, i kept waiting for feedback. Nothing. But we were busy, so maybe mine was a backburnered project?
Thursday, they finally thought to say, "Oh, yeah! Good job on the 4 pillar thing."
"Oh, thanks... Even the dragons?"
"The. What?"
Honestly, it's been 20 years. They shouldn't take anything i do for granted.... There's a re ason nothing i do goes directly to the customer...ever.