I Spent 40 Years Stopping Catastrophic Failures. Willpower Never Once Made the Fix List. (Here’s What Did.)

The night a batch of transmission housings failed because one exhausted operator trusted his own discipline instead of the checklist, I stopped believing in routines — and started believing in systems over willpower.

It was 11:40 p.m., second shift, on the floor at a transmission plant outside Dayton, when my best line lead made a call his training told him not to make.… Read the rest “I Spent 40 Years Stopping Catastrophic Failures. Willpower Never Once Made the Fix List. (Here’s What Did.)”

I Stopped Being a ‘Low-Maintenance’ Friend and Nearly Lost My Best Friend Over a Heart Emoji

A reply six days late, a heart emoji, and the two-month experiment that cured me of being everyone’s low-maintenance friend.

Last Thursday, I finally answered a text that had been sitting in my inbox for six days.

It was from Jess. A decade ago, I’d have called her my closest friend without needing to think about it.… Read the rest “I Stopped Being a ‘Low-Maintenance’ Friend and Nearly Lost My Best Friend Over a Heart Emoji”