Putting Behaviors In The World

Have you ever seen the person in the small food stand or diner who just knows how long things take? Maybe she can start a drink pouring at the soda machine, turn to ring a customer, and know exactly how long she has before she needs to turn around and keep the cup from overfilling. That’s the sign of an expert who really knows their job, and has internalized that knowledge over time.

More common these days is the evidence of that knowledge being embedded into the world.

The type of soda machine shown below is pretty common. The employee can put in the cup and just press a single button for small, medium, or large.

This machine allows even a brand-new employee to perform this particular task at the same level as a seasoned veteran, without having to go through a slow learning process. The information and, even more important, the behavior has been embedded in the machine, rather than in the learner.