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Boring Jobs Dull the Mind (and Insight Failures)
By Eric Gross | June 9, 2008
Here is an interesting article:
BBC News: Dull jobs really do numb the mind
New research shows that people who are asked to perform repetitive tasks eventually go into “autopilot” mode in order to economize the work required to complete a task. I know this is true for me - ask me to create 20 databases and after the third one, I’m in drone-mode. Unfortunately, after having completed it a few times, I know I’ll eventually miss a step because I’ve pretty much stopped thinking about the procedure. Drone-mode means my mind wanders elsewhere - such as my next post to the blogosphere.
Brain scans can predict when someone has gone into this minimal thinking state. So if you want to improve the quality of your database management team you could fashion a hockey helmet with EEG electrodes, pop them on your DBAs, and start monitoring when they go into drone-mode.
Better yet, either enrich their jobs or - *gasp* - try automation!
Topics: Data Center Automation, Efficiency, People