My company produced electric power systems using converters that made alternating current from a direct current source: this by switching the output terminals to the source in a unique way. We had built a few different models all having the same deficiency; the load affected the quality of the output.

My job was to develop an elegant control scheme to prevent degradation of the output quality. I had completed the conceptual analysis of the control scheme and built a prototype for testing it.

We subjected our converter to a wide variety of operating conditions, including no-load to full-load and over-loads. For the most part the performance was as predicted by my analysis, but we found an anomaly that we couldn’t explain. When certain loads were switched on or off the control system lost control momentarily. Control was regained but not until it had caused a corruption in the quality of the output power. We worked for a few days trying to isolate the cause of the problem without success. It had to be something simple, but what? The problem bothered me even at night.

I finally decided to not worry about it after working hours, and just relax. After supper I decided to relax to the music of Mozart. What better way was there than to rear back and listen to the sublime music of Mozart? I selected a piano concerto and listened as the extraordinary melodies emerged. I soon forgot the frustration of the last few days. I had heard that Mozart’s music benefited even unborn babies. I too felt the benefit. I felt totally at one with the music. The concerto finished and I started another.

I don’t recall how long I listened before a strange feeling entered my gut. I was back at work with my problem, but the tension was all gone. I knew what caused the anomaly. The tight control I had imposed on the system was too rigid. I would need to limit the correction effort of the control to allow a small error and prevent a large one. I continued listening to the music for the rest of the evening.

The next day I made a sight modification in my circuit, tested the system and all went well for all operating conditions. Thank you Mozart. I’m reminded that this concept applied in rearing children. One must allow little mistakes in hopes of preventing big ones later on.