On Tradition And Why We Need To #KeepEvolving

On Tradition And Why We Need To #KeepEvolving

Long time no blog! I've been kept very busy since taking the helm of Commanding Officer at 2947 and am thankful for a great team supporting our mission and direction. 

I've been thinking a lot about what makes cadet organizations fly or flunk, and my mind keeps going back to the most dangerous phrase in organizations:

"Because We've Always Done It That Way"

Business, non-profits, government organizations, community groups all face the same challenge; the inability to adapt to change and evolve with the ecosystem.

I'm not kidding when I say that NCOs are the backbone of a military unit, because organizations really are animals. They are organic entities with each member being a muscle fibre, a tendon, a bone, a neuron. And as organic entities, they must adapt to their ecosystem and evolve to survive.

Over the past 10 years, there have been numerous changes to the ecosystem that we exercise no control over. These include funding cuts and redistribution, reorganization at the RCSU level, realignment and restructuring of the Army Cadet training programme (re: NSCE to Master Cadet), and even the overall shift of our technical focus to Expedition training.

With this change, there is an even greater amount of people who throw their arms up saying "we don't like this change", "you're taking the army out of Army Cadets", "things were better back in the day", the list goes on.

Now, I want to reiterate: this is a change in the ecosystem our corps live in.

Change will happen, whether you like it or not. When the water is rising past your hips do you cross your arms and say no, or do you learn to swim?

"Change Will Happen Whether You Like It Or Not"

Organizations that refuse to evolve will drown, while the ones that do become stronger and more agile in their new ecosystems.

Many corps will refuse to evolve for the sake of tradition. Now, I'm not an opponent of tradition by any means, frankly I consider myself a culturally traditional person.

Tradition has its time and place; it builds the corps' cultural identity, promotes esprit de corps, and gives members a sense of pride and belonging. None of this should compromise the corps ability to maintain an agile and competitive position.

Here are some things that many cadet units do wrong for the sake of "tradition".

Tradition Should Not Contradict Orders and Directives

Dress, drill, training directives, the list of instructions and regulations that are contravened for the sake of tradition is endless. 

Many ask, why does it matter if we do things differently? Everyone's having fun and nobody gets hurt.

The answer is that it breeds bad habits, and it breeds a culture of disobedience. The military thrives on compliance, regulation, and exactness. These values are what we want to instill in the young people that we train so that they can follow instructions, give direction, think fast, and lead with a strong foundation.

Divergence from something as simple as dress instructions has shown a contagion effect impacting other operational areas: poorly coordinated training, negligent administration, and ultimately a disservice to the young people in our care.

Tradition Should Never Impact Business Practices  

Running business processes the same way without seeking optimization is a death sentence for any organization.

Whether it be the back office, the classroom floor, or FTX site, we must keep evolving to find better ways to do things. There is a business approach/philosophy of continuous improvement called Kaizen (Reference for more info) which seeks to improve on every minute detail.

One interpretation of the philosophy is to seek perfection, while knowing perfection is unattainable; it is eking that 1% improvement every single day.

Corps who do not seek novel ways to improve their administration, coordinate their training, or deliver instruction for the sake of tradition (or "this is how we've always done it") will see themselves falling 1% behind every single day. It may not seem like much, but 365 days later other units have more than tripled your performance.

Always seek better ways to do things, whether it be building business intelligence, fundraising, training, etc.

Personal rant: a lot of people complain about the functionality of Fortress. A well-maintained Fortress profile for your corps gives an incredibly powerful amount of business intelligence in the form of metrics and statistics. Go clean up your Fortress accounts. 

Tradition Should Embrace, Facilitate, and Celebrate Change

Do you know how many traditions came to be? Most traditional Chinese foods came from somebody eating something 1000 years ago and not dying. They come from any circumstance, either grandiose or inconsequential. 

The story of "cutting the ends off the ham" is a great example. 

A young girl was watching her mother bake a ham for a family gathering and noticed her mom cutting off the ends before placing it in the oven. 

“Mom, why do you cut the ends off before baking the ham?” she asked. 

“Hmmm…I think it helps soak up the juices while it’s baking.  I’m actually not sure, though. That’s just the way your grandma always did it, so I’ve just always cut them off. Why don’t you call grandma and ask her?” 

So, the little girl phoned her grandma and asked “Grandma, mom is making a ham and cut off the ends before placing it in the oven. She said that it’s probably to help soak up the juices but wasn’t sure. She said you’d know because she learned how to cook from you.” 

“That’s true. I do cut off the ends of the ham before baking. But I’m actually not sure why either. I learned how to cook from my mom. You should ask her.” 

So, the inquisitive little girl called her great grandmother and asked “Great grandma, mom and grandma said they learned how to cook a ham from watching you. Do you cut off the ends of the ham to help it soak up the juices?” 

The great grandmother chuckled.  “Oh, no sweetie.  I just never had a pan big enough to hold a whole ham, so I always had to cut off the ends to make it fit.” 

Source: http://critical-thinkers.com/2015/01/cutting-off-the-ends-of-the-ham/

A tradition that may have made sense generations ago, but provides no business value now (or even waste like in the story above!) should be discarded and forgotten. 

On the flip side, a tradition can be started just as easily. Especially one that is meant to celebrate and facilitate change in the organization. 

Recognition for being a changemaker (see Zenkai in article about Kaizen above) is a simple tradition that can be started with little to no effort. 

In Summary (tl;dr)

Change will happen whether you like it or not. 

A large part of my job as Commanding Officer is to build a culture that can adapt to and celebrate change. This is not just to ensure that 2947 remains competitive, but also so that we build young leaders that can tackle these challenges in the real world.

Keep adapting, keep improving, and #KeepEvolving Orcas. 

Duty Above All

CO's Corner-January 2015

CO's Corner
18 Jan 2015   

Greetings and welcome back to a new year!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas break filled with fun and family and that you are returning to us energized and enthusiastic about the months ahead.

Now in my third month with 2947 RCACC, I find myself honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with you all. It has been my pleasure to be in command at a time when so many cadets became eligible for promotions or awards, not the least of which were the two MGen Howard Awards presentations to MWOs Jin and Chow.

The talent and dedication I see in all of you on a weekly basis is extraordinary and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

There have been a lot of changes since I started – some big and some small – and I want to thank everyone for their commitment to the corps during this (sometimes) difficult transition. 

I can already see things improving now that we have a super-enthusiastic sponsoring committee and that will bring on a lot more changes and opportunities as the year progresses. The future is bright for 2947!

To conclude, I wish you all the best in the new year and look forward to the many adventures we are going to have during our time together.

Sincerely,


C.L.W (Christopher) Hamilton
Commanding Officer

Working Relationships - The Senior Levels

That Burning Question

I always hear the same concern from my cadets, that one burning question about their future in their program, especially among the intermediate to senior levels.

Where am I going to end up at the end of my career?

Many cadets have a very focused, singular goal in mind. That is that they want to be the RSM (or equivalent if in another element) of the Unit by the time they age out. And by no means is that a bad goal, it is an excellent goal in fact. I encourage all my students/trainees/cadets to shoot high. However, in this quest to become the best, we often lose sight of the value that we can contribute when we end up in a position other than what we had orginally aimed for.

The reality is that there can be only one RSM/Cox'n/SWO, and when this reality dawns on the cadet, competition becomes fierce. If I could, all my seniors would be the senior cadet of the unit. I truly believe that I work with some of the smartest, most talented, and most purpose-driven young adults in the country. However, being the senior cadet of the unit requires a very special skill set which I will explain later in more detail.

One thing that we must all remember though, is that just because when an individual is selected for the position, it does not mean that you are "worse" than they are, nor does it mean that they are any "better" . It all comes down to fit and how well the individual fits the requirements of the role.

I can not stress enough. Do not devalue yourself. In the following model I propose, I try to define the relationships between the senior positions in the unit.

The Relationships Model

The following model is, in my ideal world, how the senior positions in a medium to large cadet unit should be defined.

Each of the above positions has a defined role, and by extension, that is the critical value that they add to the organization. Note that it is the NCO positions that are in the middle, and for a reason. NCOs are the movers and shakers of the organization, they need to be empowered to make independent decisions on their own, while being given feedback, support, and guidance from officer staff.

The RSM provides the strategic road map for the unit in conjunction with the CO. They should always be answering the questions: Where do we want to be

• In 1 year, 2 years, 3 years?
• Beyond my term as a cadet?
• What do I want the future of this unit to look like?

They are focused on Transformational Leadership, how will they make this unit better and stronger? How can I lead and support my people to achieve the goals that I have set? That is the purpose of this role, and it takes a very unique perspective and personality to be able to do the job well

The CSM should be handling the day-to-day activities of the unit to ensure that they are completed; are the cadets being informed on training? Are section commanders and warrant officers giving adequate guidance and feedback? Are people actually improving? These are topics and concerns that need to not only be answered on a day to day basis, but also asked. Asked to their subordinates, and asked to oneself in a reflective manner.

But what about this TSM character? I will explain the nature of this role in further detail

The TSM - Misused, Misunderstood, Misrepresented

The TSM goes by many names; Training Sergeant Major, Standards Sergeant Major, HQ Sergeant Major, Regulator, etc. But no matter the name, this position is nearly always viewed as a dead-end by cadets and officers alike. Cadets placed in this position typically feel that they are at the end of their rope as far as their career goes, and really this view of what I believe to be the most dynamic position in the cadet unit is justified when officers turn it into a "Make Work" position that adds little value.

As shown in my model above, the TSM is the NCO which is in charge of "Enablement". But what do I mean by this term, which seems quite out of place in a military environment? Enablement is the crafting and provision of the tools which will take you from Point A to Point B; which will achieve the vision of the RSM and Commanding Officer.
It is taking a step back from day to day activities and seeing where the gaps are. Taking this information, feeding it back to the CSM and RSM, and coming up with solutions to implement is where this position adds value

Therefore, it is important to note that treating the TSM position as a place to "dump" a senior NCO is not only a waste of that NCO's talent, but also a waste of the value the position can provide when filled with the right person

The TSM must be considered a Specialist in their field. They must be highly analytical, to be able to see gaps in performance or productivity where others don't. They must be highly creative, to come up with plans, strategies, training material, analytical materials, to solve the problems they find. And thirdly, they need to be excellent business communicators that can not only express the needs of the organization, but can also gain support from their peers and superiors to fulfill these needs.

"The TSM must be a considered a Specialist...They must be highly analytical, creative, and excellent business communicators"

One thing that needs to be stressed too, is that the position of TSM is, and should never be, a "dead-end" position. There should be no automatic pathway to move into the position of RSM from the CSM's position alone. Instead, the RSM's position should be filled by somebody that fits the requirements of the role, no matter their previous position. Experience must also be taken into account, among many other factors, but that is a discussion that needs to be left for another post.

What Now?

We need to shift the way we think about how these top positions interact, and the different types of value that they bring to the table. These jobs are not the same with just varying levels of supervision. They are highly specialized, as they are intended to be, and each drive a very specific value for the unit.

It is only when we realize the true strength that comes from having a defined purpose and scope of duties, that we can really create a successful and strong unit that stands out from the crowd and creates the type of cadets that we truly want.

Cheers,
J. Ng