What does the chief of staff of the Air Force and ham have in common? It all has to do with sense — common sense.
According to a recent article entitled, “Welsh: empower Airmen to do what they think is best,” Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III encouraged all “big-A” Airmen to stop doing things if they don’t make sense. Seeing as I feel the same way, let me provide some insight on this.
On Sept. 17, the aforementioned article was published and quoted Welsh as saying, “If it sounds stupid, don’t do it … If it doesn’t make common sense, if it doesn’t make the mission better, if it doesn’t take better care of our people, then just don’t do it, and tell your boss you’re done.”
There are some very common sense reasons why Welsh feels this way. Additionally, there are some common sense ways to go about it.
I am reminded of a story about a mother teaching her children to roast a ham. Although the instructions were easy to follow, the children were left wondering why Mom spent so much time trying to cut off both ends of a perfectly good piece of meat. It must have been important because she learned from Grandma, and it always turned out tasty. Overcome by curiosity, the children called Grandma to ask what was so important about cutting off the ends. Grandma did not ridicule them. Instead, she politely explained that her roasting pan was too small for most hams so she had to cut off the ends to make it fit.
OK, so I got a chuckle out of this, too. But there are a number of lessons in this one simple story.
First, the children learned the importance of asking why. They very well could have spent the rest of their lives hacking hams for no apparent reason and teaching another generation of home chefs to do the same.
Second, they learned additional techniques and procedures to follow if they were to roast a complete ham. In addition to explaining why she cut the ends of the ham, Grandma also explained if they had a roasting pan large enough for the complete roast, be sure to add more cooking time to make up for the additional weight.
Third, the children learned the seemingly senseless method of cutting off the ends of the ham actually had a purpose. While they did not have to concern themselves with the challenge of a small roasting pan, there are others in this world who still have small roasting pans — if for no other reason than to fit into small ovens.
Finally, the young team gained a foundation of knowledge they could apply to a number of future cooking challenges. I know. Cute story but you need relevance to the chief of staff’s advice.
When Welsh challenges us to find the sense in what we do, we need to put some brain matter into it. Some things will be obvious, such as eliminating base stickers from automobiles when our policy is to check human identification, not vehicle identification. Some things will have hidden consequences that bear discovery so we may identify risk. We will not be able to reach discovery without empowering Airmen to have the courage to ask why.
If you read the article, you will see it did a great job of capturing the headline of doing only what makes sense. I want you to know you do not need a publication to tell you that. Welsh told us himself when he directed us to read a four-page document describing “a vision for the United States Air Force.” In it, he summed it up as follows: “Every Airman should constantly look for smarter ways to do business … As we do this, all of our actions will be shaped by our warrior ethos, bounded by our core values and underwritten by common sense.”
Note how common sense is last and warrior ethos, or mission necessity, is first. In other words, focus on the mission, then make the mission easier to accomplish.
So, I return to the original question. What does the chief of staff and ham have in common? A lesson in making sense — common sense.
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What does the chief of staff of the Air Force and ham have in common? It all has to do with sense — common sense.
According to a recent article entitled, “Welsh: empower Airmen to do what they think is best,” Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh III encouraged all “big-A” Airmen to stop doing things if they don’t make sense. Seeing as I feel the same way, let me provide some insight on this.
On Sept. 17, the aforementioned article was published and quoted Welsh as saying, “If it sounds stupid, don’t do it … If it doesn’t make common sense, if it doesn’t make the mission better, if it doesn’t take better care of our people, then just don’t do it, and tell your boss you’re done.”
There are some very common sense reasons why Welsh feels this way. Additionally, there are some common sense ways to go about it.
I am reminded of a story about a mother teaching her children to roast a ham. Although the instructions were easy to follow, the children were left wondering why Mom spent so much time trying to cut off both ends of a perfectly good piece of meat. It must have been important because she learned from Grandma, and it always turned out tasty. Overcome by curiosity, the children called Grandma to ask what was so important about cutting off the ends. Grandma did not ridicule them. Instead, she politely explained that her roasting pan was too small for most hams so she had to cut off the ends to make it fit.
OK, so I got a chuckle out of this, too. But there are a number of lessons in this one simple story.
First, the children learned the importance of asking why. They very well could have spent the rest of their lives hacking hams for no apparent reason and teaching another generation of home chefs to do the same.
Second, they learned additional techniques and procedures to follow if they were to roast a complete ham. In addition to explaining why she cut the ends of the ham, Grandma also explained if they had a roasting pan large enough for the complete roast, be sure to add more cooking time to make up for the additional weight.
Third, the children learned the seemingly senseless method of cutting off the ends of the ham actually had a purpose. While they did not have to concern themselves with the challenge of a small roasting pan, there are others in this world who still have small roasting pans — if for no other reason than to fit into small ovens.
Finally, the young team gained a foundation of knowledge they could apply to a number of future cooking challenges. I know. Cute story but you need relevance to the chief of staff’s advice.
When Welsh challenges us to find the sense in what we do, we need to put some brain matter into it. Some things will be obvious, such as eliminating base stickers from automobiles when our policy is to check human identification, not vehicle identification. Some things will have hidden consequences that bear discovery so we may identify risk. We will not be able to reach discovery without empowering Airmen to have the courage to ask why.
If you read the article, you will see it did a great job of capturing the headline of doing only what makes sense. I want you to know you do not need a publication to tell you that. Welsh told us himself when he directed us to read a four-page document describing “a vision for the United States Air Force.” In it, he summed it up as follows: “Every Airman should constantly look for smarter ways to do business … As we do this, all of our actions will be shaped by our warrior ethos, bounded by our core values and underwritten by common sense.”
Note how common sense is last and warrior ethos, or mission necessity, is first. In other words, focus on the mission, then make the mission easier to accomplish.
So, I return to the original question. What does the chief of staff and ham have in common? A lesson in making sense — common sense.