WOAF Column
Change—what does it mean?
W/O Keith Gell
By W/O Keith Gell, Warrant Officer Air Force
Lots of our personnel are now starting to feel the effects of upcoming change. Some of it is new, or has been in the pipeline for some time. However, it is not until it starts to become personal that the effects are felt. Many folk have been engaged with or are represented at workshops and meetings discussing change proposals, but again, it is when it hits you personally that it becomes real.
As an Air Force, we are in change right now and we need to challenge ourselves personally about what it all means—not only for those on the receiving end, but those who are proposing and implementing change. For this, I believe, we need to take ourselves back to the basics and re-affirm some fundamentals.
First and foremost throughout any change we must always ensure that our sense of mission and purpose is our key motivator. This is critical for who and what we are as an Air Force. Without these basic ingredients we could become an organisation of ‘wandering gypsies’, who belong to no one.
The next step is re-affirming our values as both an Air Force and as individuals. This underpins the decision-making process that we take and is something that both the ideas people and the practitioners need to be mindful of. If during this process your personal values are out of sync with our Air Force values, give yourself a wake up call because you will standout like a car salesman dressed up in white shoes. We have a strong values base as an Air Force—this is proven because people are walking them.
The last step is about want and desire. It is at this point that it becomes personal, because only you can make this decision. And yes, you have to make yourself accountable when you come to this point. This will ensure you make the right decision, not the easy decision.
‘Shape while we create’ is an emerging category being used during the change process, something I have thought about for some time and something that makes real sense to me. Sometimes we can over-analyse things around change, because really what our people want is the ‘get-on-with-it’ attitude and ‘give-it-a-go’.
At the moment we have a few Air Force initiatives that have just been implemented, or are about to be. For me, they fall within the category of ‘shape while we create’. This approach poses more questions than answers. However, that is what we have to manage and that is the by-product of this approach. Underpinning this approach is our values.
Leading through vision and values is one of the core competencies of a Warrant Officer. For me, this means seeing through the change and seeing what it looks like at the other end. This is no easy feat when clouds are blurring your vision, especially when we take the ‘shape as we create’ approach.
However in such instances, we have to put our faith in the trust and integrity of those folk initiating the ideas. It also means they will come under more scrutiny as more questions will be asked. Change initiators may see this as negativity, however I see this as the ‘they care attitude’ because, after all, our practitioners are our experts.
On the other hand, many change initiators are purely carrying out command intent. This is something we all have to be mindful of when serving ones country. If Chief of Air Force gives the command "move to the right in column of route"—guess what—that’s what we do.
Change is something we need to get to grips with, not only from the receiving end, but also for those ideas people initiating change. Think about mission, purpose, values, want and desire. For me, that forms the foundation of why, how, and acceptance.