Early in my consulting career I engaged in a fairly significant, dynamic discussion with a client regarding a software customization that they felt was mandatory. It was there feeling that it was mandatory that we build an interface to all of their scale systems, so that the shipping personnel could take the correct weights of the material that they were shipping directly from the scale. No data entry, just a one button accept the weight and load up the truck.
We spent a good 30 minutes of me trying to talk them out of this customization. What it ultimately came down to was the client project manager explaining to me that most of the people that worked the shipping dock signed “X” when they picked up their checks. That was a concept so foreign to me, all I could say was “Oh”, and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs. It was also, a huge personal and professional lesson for me.
Over at the Danger Room there is a report, that literacy is also an obstacle that is being faced in our efforts in Afghanistan.
The American-led strategy in Afghanistan relies on training enough local forces to let the Afghans take over their own security. Right now, only 18 percent of those 243,000 cops and grunts have more than a Kindergarten-level ability to read. Which means they’ve got major trouble doing everything from keeping track of their gear to following a battle plan to getting paid, the general in charge of the NATO training effort says. In other words: If these local troops can’t learn their ABCs, this war is stuck.
Go read the whole article. These are the facts that people in this country forget when they are frustrated by how long the efforts in Afghanistan are taking. Unfortunately, I think they are also facts that our political leadership have no clue about.