What does a cantankerous old bus conductor and the Air Training Corps have in common?

The letter here certainly isn’t my proudest moment, especially considering I was 7 years old, and I am certainly not condoning my own behaviour! What it proves to me is that I have always had a very healthy disregard for simply accepting the rules. In hindsight, I think this is a sign of an inquisitive mind with a passion to explore and of someone who doesn’t like or at least is willing to challenge being told to conform. In school I was often described as disruptive and easily bored and as I look back I wish there was an older version of me reassuring younger me that I wasn’t a tyrant, simply frustrated that I wasn’t discovering enough new knowledge or experiences.

I never set out to misbehave, in fact I never really felt that I was misbehaving. It was more an exuberant thirst for knowledge coupled with a short attention span for things I found were going to slowly or didn’t inspire me.  In truth, not everyone fits into educational frameworks perfectly. In my day (I just sounded like my Grandad) it was largely speaking a “one size fits all” approach, if you didn’t fit in you got punished. I believe all pupils should be encouraged to bring out the best in them based on their learning style and capability. Whilst there was a young breed of teachers starting who had a different and more liberal style, there was still evidence of  the schoolmaster mentality that quite literally demanded subservience. Modern education has undoubtedly developed a long way since I was at school, but I still sense there are things to do in order to develop the best traits in pupils.

However, this isn’t a narrative about education, so I will continue... Years later I began to explore my love of aircraft (a passion I shared with my Grandad) and I joined the Air Training Corps. This youth movement was to provide an insight into life in Her Majesty’s forces. It was all about accepting rules and following orders, something I patently had a ‘slight’ aversion to, so how did I fit in? Well, to me it seemed that putting a framework around things that you are passionate about gives you a whole new perspective on how to deal with behavioural constraints. I quickly discovered there was a positive reward when I complied with orders... I got to fly in planes! Positive reaffirmation of my good behaviour always outweighed punishment, such as having privileges removed, both in school and in the workplace.

This sentiment has framed how I have approached my attitude to my work life.

Always challenge norms, never be afraid to ask questions, subservience to rules can be dangerous and always have respect for the frameworks in which you exist.

In light of my passion for aircraft I can tell you this... many aircraft crashes can be attributed to Captains that dominated the cockpit whilst their First Officers were subservient and wouldn’t express their concerns as they blindly followed the hierarchy of command. Catastrophic failure follows. The lesson for me is that a strong push for change, in the context of a safe and legal framework with collaborative colleagues is a powerful thing. 

For the record, the bus conductor was a cantankerous, miserable old sod... but I did apologise!