Explanation
I (a non technician) was summoned to the podium and asked by my Commander the reasons why I had failed to understand the lesson. In self defense, I had to make a terse confession of my inadequate knowledge of scientific matters and state that though the instructor’s words were energizing, I could not follow the lecture because I did not know the basics and lacked technical knowledge.
Group Captain Ajeeth Kumar smiled and the team withdrew and assembled in the conference room. A quick round of tea and snacks followed then commanding officer gave a loud guffaw and said he had solved the problem. No, the problem was not one of motivation or inspiration but a systemic one which needed a cure and was not to be endured.
Insight : The Solution
The solution, a very obvious one had escaped our wisdom. Commanding officer stated in unequivocal terms that when a non-technician with a formal school and a college education fails to comprehend a scientific lesson there is the indication that our lessons are not compatible with our objectives.
The language in the training manual is on a difficult platter and comes in way of understanding of the trainees. A surge of inspiration touched our Commanding Officer and he turned to me and said “Hi dear do wish to learn technical subjects now?” We will have a team teaching you. Honesty, I could not fathom what he was aiming for or what my role was to be in the overall scheme of things.
The Action Plan
Then he unfolded his plan. He said the training manuals had to be re-written with the end user in mind. Audience expectation has to be met at all times and in this endeavor we had failed and failed miserably.
Group Captain Ajeeth kumar then turned to Squadron Leader Dheeraj Ghai an technical expert and said, “You take on the task to re-write the training manual. Use the computer and projector and have Warrant Officer Pratip C Mazumdar by your side. Show him the script and explain to him all the lessons. The Warrant Officer is a non-technician an Education Instructor and he is a language expert. The language has to be made more users friendly. Look at the project from a customer’s point of view and he winked. The commanding officer further augmented “I will approve the training manual, when the recommendations come to me from my warrant Officer.” The bottom line was making your technical manual simple and easy to comprehend such that even a lay man like non technical personnel can understand; edit the writing make it simple and terse and solicit the services of the language expert. The final statement resounded “If my non technical warrant officer can understand our technical manuals then we can be sure that our trainees will understand and do well in the examination”.
The underlying aim to create a win- win situation. The bottom lines juxtaposed articulate the reading material to make it meaningful, relevant, and acceptable. We were told the exercise might take a week or a month but must come out well. The commanding officer stated emphatically the names of the instructors involved in editing the training manual would be endorsed in the manual. What a grand way to do things.
The following day editing the training manual started on a war footing; and I had the privilege of having Squadron Leader (Presently serving as a Wing Commander) Dheeraj Ghai by my side explaining to me the technical jargons which was in no way an easy job and I on my part helped him in making the language more precise and apt breaking through the rigmarole of erudite learning dictions. And believe it or not when the technical manuals were re-printed the end users purpose was aligned with the objectives most befittingly and meaningfully. It needs to be reiterated that the results at the training centre improved radically. Electrical and Instrument Training Institute secured 100% pass results in the trainees terminal examinations.
Lessons Learnt :
The Military services have been one of the great thinkers, movers and shakers in this world. In the Armed Forces Ideas are taken from different stake holders to gain useful insights to delve into a crisis. The commanding officer provides direction to the team to achieve targets, goals and missions. The academia and the corporate world will do well to take lessons from such team work where the barrier of rank or file does not come in the way to achieve results.
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