The weather had been quite pleasant on the journey to Scotland, but as we crossed under the railway line at Tyndrum the clouds were building.  Soon after we commenced the walk to Ben Lui the rain started.  Rain was not the word for it.  Let’s put it this way, Noah would really have felt at home.  And it was windy.  Our planned balmy evening, chatting the time away whilst the sun slowly descended over the mountain, had dissolved into sheets of water pouring from the sky.  I guess I must have slept, but I remember being awakened at frequent intervals by the tent canvas billowing into my face. 

The morning arrived and things were looking a little better.  That is, until I looked in the mirror.  A couple of days beard growth, a five-hour journey, and a night with about two nanoseconds of sleep (or so it seemed) resulted in a sight that was not pretty.  I passed the mirror to my son and said, “What do you see in there.”  “Me”, he replied.  “Thank goodness for that, I said, “I thought it was me for a minute.”  I took the mirror back and looked again.  “It is me,” I said.  “Well, it’s not exactly you,” he responded.  I was not really in the mood for this, but the trip was supposed to be a father and son bonding exercise, so I thought it best to humour him.  “So if it is not me, who is it I enquired.” I guess I have should have realised that his scientific training was hovering just under the surface, waiting for an opportunity to demonstrate itself.  “It’s actually you backwards,” he said.  I was not sure, in the circumstances, his observation was really relevant, and I was not convinced that I would look any better the right way round. 

I started to think about his comment, and it was true.  Although in the mirror you think you see yourself, what you think you see is not actually what you do see.  This can apply to many other situations: what you think you see is actually not what you do see.

Think about a warehouse for a moment: out on the warehouse floor.  Staff travel around, some with hand pallet trucks, some with reach trucks, some with counterbalance trucks.  Items are being put away, other items are being picked, and replenishments are being actioned.  Customer orders are being satisfied, everything in the metaphorical garden is rosy, or is it?  Or is it like the mirror?  At first glance you assume that everything is right, but then you discover later that everything is the wrong way round, or at least it is not as right as you thought.

Howard Turvey MD Proteus Software

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