Life Coach - Step 14 of 100 - Isint it strange that we still struggle just to be good in our work?

Annual vehicle inspection has been going on for past so many years. I guess there must be hardly any unit which is younger than 20 years. So if my annual vehicle inspection has been going on for past 20 years, how long should it be before the processes mature and stabilize.

What do I mean by maturing of processes?
When I took over the role of MTO, I had to start from scratch - learning how things work, how consumables are ordered, what are the PM1 and PM2 tasks. I understand that any new job has a learning curve built in. But my problem was why was everything heroism based. So one month before the inspection everyone was working overtime to get vehicles in good shape. There was a load on the EME workshop for charging of the batteries. Troops were being sent to ordnance depot to get spares. And still in the inspection issues were discovered. The radiator cap of a Jonga was fitted on a 1 Tonner, the tyres were coated to graphite to make them shine, diesel was applied to make the surface shine - all no no practices.

Give me a break. Where is the process maturity?
I expect that irrespective of who leads the inspection preparation things should run smoothly. We all know that inspection will be conducted annually. We could level our work across the year. No one has to work overtime to get things done, if they were done correctly throughout the year. It is not that the inspection is a surprise.

So we are rushing from one inspection to another - weapons, vehicles, documents, etc. Why cannot we as Commanding Officers mature the processes.

By process maturity I mean - person independency and process dependency. It should not matter if Sandesh has to proceed on leave. Any other officer stepping into the role should takeover with smooth transition. 20 years is a lot of time for processes to mature.

The problem is lack of focus of any CO to institutionalize the process. Continual Service Improvement would happen, but they will only improve the processes.

My CO planted 2000 saplings next to our unit. The trees would mature in 10 years. He or the unit may never be around to enjoy the shade or the fruits. But whatever shade the troops are enjoying now is because of someone who thought just like him 10 years back. Will you be such a CO?