The Limiting Factor

Oh yes the limiting factor. Why do people write limiting factors into specifications for Tree Practices? Specifications should detail a minimum standard not the maximum. The minimum standard allows for changes in work practices and equipment development and allows for some people to achieve a much higher standard. Limiting a person from improving themselves or moving with the times is a backward movement.

Industry standards are changing all the time, these changes are generally improvements and can be influenced by new equipment or a new process using the same equipment. These changes are not a bad thing and can be essential for the growth of the individual and also the industry as a whole.

Specifications should be written to be timeless but of course this is not possible. They should be flexible enough to stand the test of some time and not be dated by the time they are released. Also updating these specifications on a regular basis is vital to keep pace with industry change and research findings.

A recent specification connected with a tendering process for trimming trees around power lines read that the use of mechanical ascenders or rope adjusters was not permitted. How limiting is this? The future of spikeless tree climbing hinges on the use of combinations of mechanical ascenders and for that matter descenders. A climber's rescue is made considerable faster, safer and easier using these little gadgets. The amount of effort a climber uses on a daily basis is much less, making the climbers job less physically demanding and easier, is this not a good thing? Conductivity may be an argument but we already use other hardware such as karabiners and snap hooks etc.

Other specifications with limiting factors may include international climbing championships, council tenders and arboricultural training programs. Yes, a minimum standard is required but when writing specifications we do not want to limit the advancement of arboricultural climbing techniques in the process.

If you can prove you can achieve the same level of safety and quality using a different technique or a different type of rope or a new gadget then great. This means that other climbers may choose to adopt this new procedure or equipment and the industry advances a step at a time for the better.

In tree climbing championships we do need a level playing field. They can not have a wood chopper competing with a cutter using a chainsaw or a spikeless pole climber competing against a climber wearing spikes, but if these competitions do not reflect real work or limit the growth of the industry then their specifications may need change. Climbing competitions are a great way of sharing ideas and pulling the industry together not only nationally but internationally.

The limiting factor can also apply to individuals. For instance if a climber is set in their ways and has a closed mind to new ideas then that person will also be limited and not free to advance or improve. They will be left in the past and the industry moves into the future.

We all like our safe comfort zones we build around us, these walls protect us and give us confidence and change threatens this very framework of our closed “safe” lives. But as discussed these changes may not be all bad and may even expand your mind and improve your quality of life. You need to be flexible, adaptable, interchangeable and inventive to progress in this changing industry.

The education system can be a limiting factor too. It can lack flexibility and not relate well to the work environment. If I was to teach you a knot and said this was the only knot you are to use, then this would be a limiting factor. On the other hand if I was to show you the features of a good knot and explored if these features existed in a range of knots over a range of situations then you would have the skills for the present and the future. It’s not the knot that is important, it is the features of the knot that determine its ease of tying and untying, its strength and holding power, its limitations and its range of use.

I can teach you a technique that is twenty years old but only as a pathway to the future. A history lesson may help form the bigger picture so you can gauge the progress and the changes in the industry. We should all be teachers and inventors, improving work methods to make the job safer and easier. This type of teaching can be ageless, every job is a classroom, every day is a learning process.

For the industry to grow we need to remove the limitations placed on individuals, organisations, associations and companies.

Next: Leverage on Lateral Branches