Process Blog: A little knowledge ...
29 Jan 2010
London – Following this week’s official opening of a new RS Components distribution outlet in the shadow of the 2012 Olympic Stadium, the worshipful Mayor of Tower Hamlets, councillor Ahmed Omer engaged journalists in polite conversation about the history of the local area.
The mayor’s chat centred on his chain of office – presented in 1902 by the Huguenots, and featuring a carved image of the Blind Beggar of (nearby) Bethnal Green – and he urged everyone to search on Google to find out more.
In keeping with this theme, the mayor was then asked about the history of the ancient St Mary’s Church and the impressive statue of Gladstone on Bow Road, local to the RS facility.
From the embarrassed pause that followed, however, it emerged that the mayor was completely oblivious to two of the very few historic landmarks in the area, which he also represents as a councillor.
For me, the lapse in the mayor’s local knowledge carries a moral for process plant managers: despite all the increasing number of ways to pick up and send information – wireless, Blackberry, SMS smartphones, Google etc – getting out and about on site will always be the most important of them.
