GUARDING THE SLAB
Ayokunle Ayoko
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An army barrack had four soldiers guarding a concrete slab in front of the barracks at all times.
Different commanders came and went but the tradition remained; the soldiers changed shifts guarding the slab.
After 80 years, a new commander was assigned to the barracks.
One of the things he did was to ask why things were done the way they were. He was told, We've always done it this way. It's our tradition. Our former commanders instructed us to do that.
He was bent on finding out the reason for this practice. He went to the Archives to look for answers and came across an old document that had the explanation.
It had instructions written by one of the retired commanders who had even passed away. He learnt that over 80 years ago, the barracks wanted to build a platform where events could be performed. When the concrete slab was laid, wild animals walked over it at night before the slab could dry.
The soldiers would fix it the next morning but when evening came the same thing would happen. So the commander ordered that four soldiers should guard the concrete slab for three weeks to allow it to dry.
The following week the commander was transferred to handle another assignment elsewhere, and a new commander was brought in.
The new commander found the routine and continued to enforce it without asking any question.
And since then, every other commander that came did the same.
Thus, eighty years later; soldiers continued guarding the concrete slab. An assignment that was ordinarily designed to last just three weeks. . . 80yrs of ignorance with hard labour has passed.
Are you carrying on obsolete beliefs, attitudes traditions/culture that were relevant to certain people or a certain time?
What is your opinion about yourself, people of a different race, politics, certain business opportunities, new products etc ?
You might just be guarding a concrete slab!
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible (Ignorance can make you work hard without progress).
*Find out why you do what you do. Change the way you work and be creative. Do new things, try newer ways and always be open to Change.*
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5 年It's the product of shared basic assumptions that underpin values, norms and behaviors. Quite purposeful sir
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5 年One of my best articles yet.... The power of tradition
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6 年It's unfortunate when we blindly follow a practice, without considering the underlying reason for it. Being innovative makes us ask at least 2 questions: 1. Why are we doing 'X'? 2. Why don't we look at doing 'Y' - not simply to replace 'X' but to make a paradigm shift that solves a, b, c...