10 July - entry 1

Today was a mixed group interaction day. There's talk about our folks working with the local air national guard on a project, which means there's multiple meetings in which i get to directly observe two groups, both with their own personal objectives and limitations trying to work together to meet a somewhat arbitrary goal. For me, this is incredibly enjoyable. I know just enough of how the tech works to understand the issues and to solutions they're discussing, so I'm not completely lost in that aspect, but what I'm really paying attention to is the personality conflicts that emerge. The most interesting conflict that i saw was between a SSgt telephone troop who works in my flight, and a Chief from the guard. The Chief didn't know the ins and outs of the tech involved, but he thought he did. The SSgt knows the ins and outs of the tech, and is trying to respectfully tell the chief he doesn't know what he's talking about, and then there's a MSgt who works for the Chief who apparently is used to dealing with the Chief's incompetence and is just trying to smooth things over with the SSgt on the side.

That right there is one of the most common problems with my career field. You have a lot of "leaders" who don't have a firm grasp on the tech, making decisions without consulting the folks who know whats going on. Rather than getting over their rank and just asking the techs for ideas, they make bad policy decisions, and then the SNCOs are stuck trying to smooth things over behind the scenes. So you end up with equipment that works, but only because the techs make it work, not due to the policy decisions made by the leaders.

On the flip side of the coin, you have leaders that are trained and required to make these sweeping policy decisions, and who have been conditioned by years of unnecessary subordinate complaints to not listen to their ideas. How do you filter out good information from a sea of petty and uniformed complaints?

Its easy enough at my level because i deal with most of these techs on a day to day basis. I know who's competent, and who's a moron. So whenever i have to write up checklists or review support agreements, I know who to go to in order to get compacted, pertinent, and accurate information.

However, getting off that train of thought, the meetings of today did point out one very imporant truth. God gave you two ears and one mouth and they are to be used in that ratio. Thinking you know better than folks who have their hands on the problem, not only distances you from them, but also leads to incredibly bad calls. Leason learned, swallow your pride and ask the stupid questions.