There is this sad story that carefully chronicles what happened in the mid-15th century. King Richard was facing one of the toughest battles of his life. He had consolidated a strong army, all prepared to face and vanquish the enemy. The king asked for the favourite horse to lead the triumphant troops. The blacksmiths had shoed all the horses but ran out of iron to shoe the king’s main horse. They had no time to wait, as the enemy was advancing menacingly.
Eventually, the blacksmith fixed the shoe but could not guarantee that it would hold without the complete set of nails. Therefore, King Richard’s horse was ill-prepared for that battle, bitter like bile. The armies clashed at the battle-front, and in the thick of things, the king kept encouraging his triumphant troops to steady their nerves and fight with firm ferocity. He galloped forward, but barely had he gone a little distance when his horse’s shoe fell off, the horse stumbled, and King Richard was thrown to the ground. He fell down with a thud. It was bad. It was sad.
The frightened animal went berserk and ran away. King Richard remained without a horse. His soldiers, unable to tap more morale from their team leader, succumbed to the jaws of defeat. They lacked someone to repair their despair, they all started to scamper for safety. King Richard was captured by the enemy. The battle was over. Due to the want of a nail, history changed forever.
In the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, “For want of a nail, a shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, a horse was lost; for want of a horse, a battle was lost; for want of a battle, a kingdom was lost, and all for the want of a horse shoe nail.”
Therefore, we can pause and then pose these quality questions. Who was accountable for the missing shoe nail? Can we claim the king was aware that his horse was not prepared? In case he was, why didn’t he swap his horse with a different one? Or, was the king lied to, to believe that his horse was prepared? Can we say the king was prepared to wage and win the war? In case he was prepared, how come they did not have all the equipment and supplies? How come they did not have all the iron to shoe all the horses?
Everything cascades to preparedness, responsibility, reliability, accountability, ownership, casual attitude, and discretion. The sage said: Discretion is the better part of valour. Luke 14:31 talks about what Jesus of Nazareth reflected on in the years of yore. He asked, “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?”
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Considering King Richard’s troop, somewhere, the casualty took place because of someone’s casual attitude. Is it only the blacksmith who messed up? What about his supervisor, and all the supervisors above him? What about the General? Finally, now that President Harry S. Truman coined the sagacious statement “the buck stops with the leader,” what about the king himself?
Someone relying on the seat-of-the-pants sense will conclude that plenty of people here committed grievous goofs. Their casual and laid-back attitude resulted to a deadly consequence. In case everyone within the chain of command had done their job right, this war could not have been lost. The king’s army was strong, and they were almost prepared. But lost it! The important lessons here are: Almost prepared is not prepared. In a dream team, we are only as strong as our weakest link. In a heroic book titled You Can Achieve More, Shiv Khera contends: “The difference between doing right and doing almost right is the same as the difference between being dead and almost dead. ‘Almost’ is not good enough. Nobody at the Olympics gets a gold medal for 99 per cent achievement. Almost done is not done. There is no such thing as almost a century.”
Ownership of responsibility is what we need. Woe betide people who are prone to casual attitude and negligence. When a doctor prescribes the wrong medication, removes the wrong body parts, or there is a communication breakdown while handling patients from one department to another, that can certainly invite premature death. As military men guard us against aggression, a mistake in their aircraft can silence its generals. In our homes, when electric sockets are kept uncovered, that can lead to casualties. To make them childproof, they should be covered. When as a rogue road user, you jump red lights in order to reach your destination faster, you can invite a casualty. Texting while driving is like drinking and driving. Taking your eyes off the road just for two seconds increases accident risk 24 times.
When parents abdicate their roles, and refuse to become eternally vigilant, their children mess and miss the mark. They sink into a moral morass. They become perverts, begin taking alcohol and start smoking like chimneys. When teachers stop drawing lines to be towed by students, or begin to compromise on matters discipline, drug abuse and perversion invade schools. That, in turn, dents academic performance. When the school arrowheads become careless like the wind, and trash students’ pressing problems and glaring grievances, impertinent students raze down schools. When principals give room to “school capture”, some meddlesome outsiders take hold of schools and leave insiders in trouble. Finally, when Christians sleep, they slip. Paraphrasing the wise words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 13:25, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.”
By Victor Ochieng’
The writer rolls out talks and training services. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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