MGA3: Improving the Unit, Honoring God

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous, it is fitting for the upright to praise Him…. For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does.  The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love.  By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.  He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; He puts the deep into storehouses.  Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him.  For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.  The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance….No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength….But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.  ~ Psalm 33 (selected)

Lord God of Heaven and earth, You are indeed righteous and faithful.  I praise You for Your creative work, for the universe and everything in it.  You “gather the waters of the sea into jars…and put the deep into storehouses”—everything is under Your authority and control.  Your plans stand firm forever.  I know that I lack Your wisdom and Your righteousness; I am sinful and selfish, shortsighted, reactive and afraid.  Forgive me where I choose the wrong, where I fail to act rightly or when I actively choose sin and evil.  Forgive me when I simply act out of foolishness and fear, failing to use information and resources in the best way.  Preserve the people I lead from any harm.  Protect the resources I steward from my failed best intentions and my successful sinful ones.   For Jesus’ sake, cover my sins with His blood and forgive me my trespasses.  Lead me in your righteous paths, keep my eyes on You, the source of unfailing love and hope.  Give me wisdom to lead Your people well, to use every resource and all information wisely; bless me with understanding, insight, foresight and the ability to learn from the past and from the guidance of others.  Teach me to rely on Your strength and on Your Word.  May Your unfailing love rest on me, O Lord, as I put my hope in You, in Jesus name, Amen.

Major Graded Area (MGA) 3 is “Improving the Unit.”  It encompasses continuous process improvement; data driven decisions that manage risk; successful identification and mitigation of inefficiencies and unacceptable risks to safety or resources; and alignment with the overarching mission and strategy of the organization.  It involves an intentional awareness of, monitoring of and improvement of deficiencies, all of which is founded upon understanding of relevant guidance and an accurate, comprehensive self-inspection program.  It requires decisive, clear decisions in response to data.  

This MGA is possibly the most intimidating for me. Good ol’ process improvement has been my nemesis since I was a lieutenant – I listened to the laundry list of tools (Paredo charts?  Fishbone diagrams?) and understood the gist of how to use them, but never felt like I had a comprehensive framework of understanding in which to apply these tools, never felt I was actually guided to a logical decision.  Finally, 20 years later, I attended a process improvement course that strung multiple steps together in a very logical, cohesive way; it explained not just the purpose of each process improvement-related tool but how to use them and when they could enhance the problem solving process.  The process improvement model also dove-tails with the method of problem solving and documentation adopted by my larger medical profession—assess the situation by collecting data, label the problem accurately and based upon the data, establish which intervention is most appropriate to address the problem, and which data will be monitored to determine success.  There’s a “long lost, coming home” feeling to learning CPI—this is how my brain has been struggling to work for years, it just never had the tools.  Or maybe it was never mature enough, or always too distracted.  Because true process improvement thinking still feels very new to my brain, it intimidates me but simultaneously excites and invigorates me.  

I’m also intimidated because the job I’m going to next will be quite far from my element—not so far that I am set up for failure, but it won’t build directly on my most immediate experiences.  I know that my job will not be—for the first time ever—to be the subject matter expert, but rather to be the one who asks the pointed questions, helps synthesize the complex data and makes—and enforces—the difficult decisions.  

In my very recent feedback session with my boss, in answer to the written preliminary question “how do you think you are doing in the unit”, my answer was “OK.”  Which made my boss gently, incredulously question that self-assessment as it was a far cry from the “very good” that was her assessment.  I acknowledged that I struggle to see the positives, the good things, the successes—I see the things I don’t have time for, the unfinished projects, the identified improvements never acted on, the good ideas abandoned in favor of putting out today's fires.  So now as I write this, I am questioning my self-assessment pertaining to “Improving the Unit.”    I have spent 20 years developing myself as a SME; I’ve honed my micro- problem-solving skills; I’ve worked to increase both my efficiency and my effectiveness; I try not to shy away from being decisive even in the face of ambiguity or unpopularity.  As I just wrote, I now have the exciting new tool box called “CPI skills.”  Am I more prepared than I assess myself to be:  very likely.  

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”

God is my help, my hope, my shield.  Ultimately, my confidence is in Him and my wisdom comes from Him; I believe that I am where I am, am going where I am going, because it is part of His plan and will accomplish His purposes.

According to MGA3, “Wasteful, ineffective or unsafe ways of doing business cannot be tolerated.”  Wrapping my head around this makes me remember a chapter in Leviticus  (chapter 19) I happened upon recently—not even sure why, it is titled “Various Laws”; I think I read it because the 2^nd verse is “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” and I have that underlined.  That starting verse implies that these “various laws” are an expression of God’s holiness.  They are an interesting hodgepodge, mirroring the Ten Commandments somewhat but adding interesting prohibitions (this is where the prohibition against men trimming their beards and against tattoos comes from).  If I read this chapter as rules for modern Christians to still adhere to, I’d have to assume my bald-shaved husband and my tattooed daughter are not representing God’s holiness….which I don’t.  But reading this chapter (and much of the rules-focused OT) with a broader perspective—one which believes our forgiveness and set-apart-ness is already accomplished in Christ, Who is our righteousness—sees this list as a picture of God’s holiness, His divine ethic.  

For example, read Leviticus 19: 11-15:  “Do not steal. Do not lie.  Do not deceive one another.  Do not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God.  I am the Lord.  Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.  Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.  Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God.  I am the Lord.”

This section goes from big, broad, “obvious” sins to more nuanced ones—from no stealing to don’t hold back wages and don’t trip up the blind person.  From don’t commit a crime to be a good manager to don’t be a jerk and endanger the helpless.   Verse 16b specifically says “Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.  I am the Lord.”   “I am the Lord”—this all is to honor God, to give glory to His name.  It think that my approach to CPI can be the same—don’t commit any crimes, be a good manager and don’t endanger those who rely on me to keep them safe.  Maybe I’m over simplifying MGA3, maybe I’m misapplying scripture in this, but I believe the wisdom of God and the holiness of God are echoed in these MGAs—and a desire to be efficient, effective and safe is a way of honoring God in my vocation.

This is also a good time to think about the idea of vocation.  This new job as squadron commander will be my vocation, my professional calling in God’s kingdom on earth and the place where I serve Him, care for His people and all of the resources entrusted to me, and honor His name.  The job of “Improving the Unit”—asking the right questions, getting the right data and using it to make decisions, mitigating risks, prioritizing safety, efficiency and effectiveness—is how the military sets expectations within my new vocation.  Part of this idea of vocation is that all earthly authorities are established by God and exist by His divine allowance—all leaders and rulers, all governments, all officials – elected, appointed, descended or otherwise—have their authority because it is from God.  The military operates under the authority of the government, under the authority of God.  Therefore, my efforts to understand and support the mission of the military—an expectation of MGA3 and 4—can come from a sincere desire to serve God, to honor His name and see His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  And because I am part of God’s established earthly order in my vocation, I can confidently come to Him for wisdom and guidance; I can read His word as a word which pertains to all of life and Godliness; I can trust that as I remain in Him, I will bear fruit.

1)      Consider the idea of vocation—that your various roles (your profession or job; your role as parent or child or spouse or friend or neighbor; your responsibilities as a citizen) are how you serve God on earth.  It is not only extraordinary works of service and sacrifice that are the fruits that should grow out of faith; it is faithfulness in daily life.  How can you honor God in your vocation?

2)      Read Leviticus 19 not as if it were an instruction book for holiness, but as if it were a picture of God’s holiness—an abstract, somewhat unclear picture; a sort of “paint by numbers” picture, of small pieces that create the whole.  What are the main themes that you find here?  How do those themes inform your priorities and decisions?

3)      How does “Improving the Unit” honor God?  What does that look like within your scope and sphere of influence?

4)      Prayerfully contemplate where you have failed—either by commission or omission—to honor God at work, to behave ethically and to protect the weak.  Confess your sins before God, the Holy One, trusting that He forgives your sins for Jesus’ sake.  Confidently pray for God’s wisdom and strength; He is the Lord.