And then what?

Abstract:   To be a good chess player, it pays to look many steps ahead.  The same is true for an AM strategist.

When this editorial was written, the South Australian Treasury's focus was on measuring and ‘increasing’ the level of utilisation of the State’s Infrastructure, believing that would reduce costs.

Editorial.  March, 1995

Lately, I have been reading Taoism - admittedly, the easy and entertaining way, through the works of Benjamin Hoff, author of "The Tao of Pooh" and "The Te of Piglet". And it struck me that many of our asset management problems we bring upon ourselves by signing off too quickly on a "right" or "wrong" solution and taking too short-term a focus. Take utilisation, for example, as Taoist author Huainan-tse might have put it......

The Tao (Way) of Asset Utilisation.

In a certain country, the road planners said their extensive network of country roads was underutilised. "This is bad,” said the Treasury.

"How do you know?" said the Asset Manager.

The planners sought to increase utilisation by encouraging greater traffic flows, and they succeeded. "This is good,” said the Treasury.

"How do you know?" said the Asset Manager.

The greater traffic flows led to increased pollution, accidents, and congestion. "This is bad" said the EPA, the Road Users Associations, and the Road Accidents board.

"How do you know?" said the Asset Manager.

The road planners put in bypasses to move traffic away from country towns. This increased traffic flow and reduced accidents and congestion in the townships. "This is good”, said the road planners.

"How do you know? said the Asset Manager.

The traffic flow away from the country towns reduced trade in the townships, and businesses became non-viable, closed down, and the local people had to travel farther afield for employment and purchases... ... 

And etc. 

Image by Rick Brown from Pixabay