Almost 60 years after the last bayonet charge in Korea, the Army has removed bayonets from the rifles in basic training. They have replaced long distance runs and marches with wind sprints, eliminated training on .50 caliber heavy machine guns used by few, and added 30 hours of marksmanship. They are stressing core body strength so soldiers can vault 4 feet into an open Humvee with 65 pounds of gear. And they have added training on culture and how to reduce hearing loss. (“As battlefield changes, so does Army’s basic training,” Kansas City Star)
In short, they are revamping the entire basic training program to reflect:
- Current warfare realities and
- The condition of their average recruit
The Army’s training regimen rooted in WWI filled a different gap, preparing a different type of recruit for a different kind of war.
What have you been doing for many years without regard for current realities and the changing needs of, and expectations for, your employees, especially your new hires?
It is so easy to hone your routines and lose the peripheral vision that would allow you to see the irrelevance or inanity of some of the routines you are honing. You need to carve out time to step back and examine the big picture in order to see the obvious. You need to ensure your employees understand company priorities and then ask them how they can be more effective. The Army did. They surveyed more than 30,000 soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and asked them about the relevance of basic training. And sometimes it takes an outside perspective to help you see what is right in front of you.
- Where are your unused bayonets?
- Are your favorite marathoners struggling to run sprints?
- Why are you relying on footstools to mount the Humvees?
Keep up with changing times. Don’t let decades slip by as the Army did!
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