Dear All,
Recently I have been giving some thought to the characteristics of a
successful metrication upgrade and comparing these with metric
conversion programs that continue to fail. It seems to me that
successful metrication upgrades share these two properties: a single
metric unit (or a single metric multiple or sub-multiple) and a
written metrication policy.
1 The metrication leaders choose a single unit for a specific task
and they don't muddle this by choosing several other metric units for
people to select from. The converse of making this simple choice is to
provide the conditions for what Chip and Dan Heath call, 'decision
paralysis'; see http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/analysis-of-paralysis.html
Examples
Success: cans and bottles for drinks
Failure: Mass of babies at birth
Policy
No written policy but the practice (below) is widely accepted.
No written policy. Result is confusion based on conjecture and a
culture of 'metric conversion'; see http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/health/whataregrams.asp
Note that 'metric conversion has never produced a clean, smooth, or
fast metrication upgrade.
Practice
Contents measured in millilitres with avoidance of decilitres and
centilitres. Large bottles in litres.
Babies measured in grams, or kilograms, or implied decigrams, or
centigrams (centigrams and decigrams are implied by the choice of the
number of decimal places).
Result
Smooth metrication upgrade that was so fast that some thought of it as
instantaneous and they can't remember when the change took place.
Thirty per cent of UK maternity hospitals have now gone back to dual
scales; ten percent of UK maternity hospitals use pounds and ounces
scales only. Treatment of sick babies is compromised every day by this
reversal to pounds and ounces.
2 The metrication leaders write a clear and concise metrication
policy. This also avoids analysis paralysis', see http://www.wrevenue.com/2009/08/17/conquer-decision-paralysis
Examples
Success: building industries in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa
Failure: human height in English speaking nations
Policy
The Australian building industry policy reads:
We (the Australian building industry) will use three units of linear
measure — metre, millimetre, and kilometre. They are distinct and
cannot be confused. In building and construction the centimetre will
not be used.
No written policy.
Practice
The metric system upgrade was completed for the entire Australian
building industry in less than two years.
Since the mid 1970s, builders in Australia have not needed to think
about fractions, whether vulgar (or common), mixed numbers, or even
decimal fractions. This policy is estimated to have saved roughly 10 %
of building costs every year since 1974.
People dither between measuring their height in millimetres,
centimetres, and/or metres with a decimal component. They then
revert to feet, inches, and fractions of inches.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, that you can obtain
from http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
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