At the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russians were abandoning their tanks at an alarming rate due to breakdowns and technical glitches. On CNN, one American general was asked why.
He said that whenever an American tank convoy rests, the crew immediately starts doing maintenance checks and consumes gallons of lubricants to keep the machine in top order.
On the contrary, it looked like the Russian tank crews were doing very little maintenance, likely due to poor morale.
When we compare weaponry, we always think about which machine has more cutting-edge technology, longer-range, or smarter missiles. But often, it comes down to lubricants and maintenance.
Because if the machine jams at the wrong time, all the high-tech becomes irrelevant. And it happens all the time.
Even during the weapons training I received, half the training had nothing to do with shooting — it was about assembling and disassembling weapons, clearing blockages, and cleaning, and maintaining them.
The glamorous part of any job is just what the outer world sees. Behind that, there is a lot of grunt work that nobody sees, everybody hates, and yet, it is what saves the day.
So whatever your job is, what is the ‘maintenance’ that keeps your skills in top order? Invest your time there.
The real outcomes will be proportional to the hidden grunt work.
– Rajan