This is the twenty-ninth of a weekly blog series that will focus on leadership in the outdoors and how to get the most from the least. Even though the title is called, “Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man”, it will hopefully cover topics that are useful to everyone.
Chapter 29: Make it run like clockwork.
“My aim is to say that the machinery of the heavens is not like a divine animal but like a clock (and anyone who believes a clock has a soul gives the work the honour due to its maker) and that in it almost all the variety of motions is from one very simple magnetic force acting on bodies, as in the clock all motions are from a very simple weight.” -Johannes Kepler
In the mountain man’s time of yesteryear, every person on the trapping and trading expedition had to be able to not only perform their specific role as part of a bigger overall purpose with professional competence but every other person’s role as well. If a member of the party was to be seriously injured or lost on a trip into the mountains the others in the company needed to be able to step in and keep the group moving towards the overall objective. When a company that was tight-knit and highly functioning worked together it was comparable to very fine clockwork, with no unnecessary or superfluous parts and the ability to accomplish very intricate tasks.
After the golden era of the Rocky Mountain trappers and traders came and went, the industrial revolution was picking up steam and moving the world in a new direction.
One of the major developments that would come out of the industrial revolution was the refinement and implementation of mechanized manufacturing and being able to create complex interchangeable parts.
These major developments of the industrial revolution would find their birthplace in the United States in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1854. Aaron Dennison would start what would become the Waltham Watch Company, which would be the first factory to utilize a system we now know as the assembly line to produce excellent timepieces. Prior to this innovation, all timepieces (clocks and watches) in the world were produced one-at-a-time by highly skilled artisans, with each individual movement being a living, working piece of art that required a great deal of time to produce. The most profound issue with this style of the individualized manufacturing process is that when a piece of the movement breaks or needs replacement, a new piece would have to be handcrafted to fit into the overall mechanism. This process was costly and required a great deal of time for the artisan to replicate one or two tiny pieces. Mr. Dennison’s assembly works in Waltham, Massachusetts set a precedent for all great industrialization to follow. The pieces of the clock or watch were now interchangeable and could be repaired quickly and efficiently. This process still required artisans to design the parts and pieces, but once the assembly process started, many jobs were available for anyone who was willing to learn the trade. Even the great originator of the assembly line for producing the automobile, Henry Ford, used the Waltham watch factory as an example of how to build high-quality interchangeable parts using the assembly line.
In the world of outdoor education, having the ability to fulfill many roles and purposes as part of a larger program is paramount. On any given day you may find yourself leading a guided hike in the morning, climbing on a high adventure program in the afternoon, and helping out in the dish room after dinner assisting the cook staff with clean up. I firmly believe that staff members do bring irreplaceable skills and talents to any employment position and having that special skill or talent that cannot be taught brings a wealth of resources to any program, but the program cannot be overly reliant on any one person’s individual skill. These individual specialized skills can certainly be honed through training, practice, and providing great experiences to grow that skill. I do believe, however, that every staff member of an organization should have the opportunity to train on all activities and programs at camps, education or conference centers. On more than one occasion I have had a staff that was initially hesitant to learn a high-risk adventure activity or specialized program, only to find out that they were very skilled at leading the activity. Some of these staff even went on to lead a particular activity at another program or company as a full-time profession.
Training staff to prepare for an education season or program should not necessarily be viewed as an assembly line with every piece being viewed as identical or replaceable, but you will never know when a staff member will get sick, injured or need to leave the program for some unknown or unforeseeable reason. Again, people do have special skills and talents that cannot necessarily be matched or duplicated by other staff members, but that does not mean that that role or position at the program can simply be left unfilled. Another piece of the team will need to step in immediately and replace the missing staff member as seamlessly as possible. This is where high-quality training and providing great opportunities to practice and hone staff member’s skills will pay huge dividends. When this process is done well, the customer or student of your program will never be the wiser that the originally planned staff member is not the one currently guiding the group.
In many ways, a high-functioning camp or program staff is like a fine watch movement. This has not changed from the mountain man’s time of yesteryear. All of the pieces work closely together, with very little friction completing a specific purpose. Some of the greatest staff groups I have ever had the privilege of working with measured up admirably in this category. Every member of the staff knew what needed to be done and all that had to happen was for me to set them in motion. Many times throughout the years I have had to call on a staff member to quickly step-in and fill a role when an unexpected absence required it. This was always accomplished successfully because the training that the entire staff had completed together was thorough and methodical in preparation for just such a need. Understanding the overall mission or goal of the program also helped the staff members understand what needed to be done and what could be the repercussions if we could not deliver on a promised program. The staff members always completed their last-minute task with cheerfulness and the utmost professionalism.
In conclusion, while a highly-skilled watchmaker artisan in years past could build a one-of-a-kind piece of functional art that could last for generations, the American system of manufacturing showed that by creating very high-quality interchangeable parts this could actually create an overall machine that was not only incredibly reliable but could be quickly and completely repaired when the unthinkable happened and something broke. Preparing a staff at a camp, education or conference center utilizing this mentality will not only help create a staff that are confident and competent, but will help the overall functioning of the program operate like a fine timepiece if a part ever needs replaced.
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