Working for your grandson.

Today Kadizzle, and the rest of the trail crew will have a meeting with our new boss.  Our old boss was our age, the new boss is young enough to be our grandson.  The old boss was old and understood old people.  He told us to just go out and get the job done.  This system worked very well.  The trail crew is made up of people who have run their own business, mined coal, run tugboats, pruned trees, driven every type of vehicle, put on management classes, and the list goes on and on. The trail crew easily has a combined life experience of well over 200 years.

Today we are going to turn from a free roaming workforce into a more micro managed group.  It is natural for young people in the work force to want to over manage.  The old goats know the pitfalls of management.  One major factor in trail work is weather.  Traditionally our group has automatically adapted to the weather. We work according to what weather we face.  Another thing a group of old goats does is manage the work load.  When all the goats are energetic the group does a long hike and works hard. The next day the goats may assign themselves and easier job.

So today we will have a two hour strategic planning session.  Old goats that were dancing to their own tune will be learning how to march in a more organized fashion.  Maybe yes, maybe no.  Old goats are old because they figured out a few things.  A major problem with managing old goats is that these old goats are working for free.  When you manage people working for free you cannot fire them.  Instead you have to motivate them.  Old goats are motivated by freedom.

Across from our campsite Kenny and Ronda are situated. They are old goats working for young people in the National Park Service.  We work for the National Forest Service.  Kenny and Ronda are frustrated with their young babes that manage them.  The world has flipped upside down when your grandson tells you to dress appropriately.  Here we go.