Question The Status quo

An army  barrack had  four  soldiers guarding  a  concrete  slab  in front  of  the barracks  at  all times.

Different commanders came and went but  the tradition remained; the soldiers changed shifts guarding the slab.

​After 80 years, a new commander was assigned to the barracks.​ One of the things he did was to ask why things were done the way they were. ​

When he asked why soldiers were guarding  the  slab, he  was  told,  We've always done it this  way. It's our tradition.​ Our former commanders instructed us to do that.

The  commander was bent on finding out the reason for this practice. He went to the  Archives to look for answers and came across  a document that had the explanation.

The document was very old.  It had instructions  written by one of the retired commanders who had even passed away.

The new commander learnt that over 80 years ago, the barracks wanted to build a platform  where events could be performed. When the  concrete slab was laid, wild animals walked  over it at night before the slab could dry.​

The soldiers would fix it the next morning but  when evening came the same thing would happen. So the commander ordered that four soldiers should guard the concrete slab for  three weeks to allow it to dry.

​The following week the commander was transferred to handle another assignment elsewhere, and a new commander was brought  in.​

The new commander found the routine and continued to enforce it without asking any question.

And since then, every other commander that came did the same.

Thus, eighty years later; soldiers continued  guarding the concrete slab. ​An assignment that  was ordinarily designed to last just three  weeks. . . 80yrs  of ignorance​ with  hard  labour  has passed.

​Are  you  carrying on obsolete beliefs, attitudes traditions/culture that  were relevant to certain  people or a certain time?​

What is your opinion about yourself, people of a  different  race, politics, certain business opportunities, new products etc ?

​You might just be guarding a concrete slab!

​Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible (Ignorance can make you work hard without progress).
 
Find out why you do what you do.
Change the way you work and be creative.

Do new things, try newer ways and always be open to Change.

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