Why I'm Doing This...

So the senior reporter for Auckland for Stuff - Todd Niall - and I had a coffee chat. Which was great because that's how I will get myself out there more - getting the journos to listen is part one!

One of the things he asked me was if I'm not going in with policies as such (which he actually appreciated and liked), then what am I offering and what is the reason for doing this?

So I explained how I think the purpose of it harks directly back to the engineering thing again.

I'm there to fault-find and be the communicator.

If a machine is broken or not running right, you go in, you systematically work through the process of its operation until you get to a point where you have found the issue, or where you need help with a particular bit - say an electrical fault for example.

Once you have the main issue found - or a bunch of little ones that accumulate to be the joint problem - you communicate this find to the machine operator, the factory manager, and if needs be, the company director/owner.

Then, you work on a solution to the problem, constantly notifying and advising those same people about what is going on.

Now the solution might be simple, or it may need outside assistance - like a tradie who knows that particular electrical issue so you bring them in to help - and then you inform those people once again exactly what is happening.

But the real kicker with this whole thing, the crux of the situation, is that it completely revolves around YOU.

YOU are the machine operators, the managers and the director/owners.
You are the ones that must be communicated to.

You are the ones that need to be constantly informed about what has been found, and the upcoming ideas to solve the problem, and then get on with fixing the machine to have it working at its optimum output again.

The city and it's different departments are the actual machine - but it's yours, so I therefore answer to you.

I'm trained to fault-find. It's what I do. I also tend to enjoy communicating :)

Todd got it. He understood my mindset on this.
I hope you do as well.