White coat syndrome

I've got ten minutes before I have to leave home in order to catch a train, so I thought I'd devote them to this blog. The last few weeks have been very heavy in terms of travelling - this week I've been out of my office four days out of five. While I am getting some work done during these days - meetings and teaching sessions - I can't get on with what I consider to be my primary work - programming - nor can I clear the administrative overhead.

One of the support issues from the past week reminded me of the White Coat Syndrome. A few months ago, when I was being diagnosed with essential hypertension (high blood pressure), my family doctor explained the phenomenon that people's blood pressure would automatically rise when they saw a white lab coat, or when they entered the doctor's surgery or simply saw the machine for measuring blood pressure. This syndrome is why the pressure is measured  three times, discarding the first reading and averaging the last two.

I have noticed a similar syndrome, which might be called the Support Syndrome. Someone tells me about a screen or report that they are trying to operate and that it doesn't work. If it is someone in my vicinity, then I sit next to them whilst they perform the same operation again, whereas if it is someone calling me on the telephone, then I ask them to perform the operation whilst telling me the exact steps that they take. I do exactly as they tell me.

99% of the time, the second operation succeeds! The people asking for support are always astounded, as if I have some kind of mental aura which charms the computer into doing what it is supposed to do. My theory is that my presence causes the person to concentrate more on what they are doing, and that the previous, failed operation happened because they didn't concentrate and/or didn't read something on the screen. One would be surprised at the number of calls I have received about people not being able to log into the production database - because they didn't notice that another user's name appeared in the login screen.....

Last read: It takes teamwork to tango, by Russ King. Described as a 'business novel', it strikes me that there might be a little too much novel and not enough business in it. The book deserves a second reading, but I'm not too sure that it holds any lessons for me.

Must rush: got a train to catch.