When is the last time you washed a rental car?
No one does, there is no ownership
The saying comes from an aircraft-maintenance crew chief, and it was initially popularized in a bestselling book in 1985. The general asked him what the difference was between the old, specialist organization and the new organization, in which the plane and the sortie are the “customer,” where the supervisor (“designated crew chief,” remember) “owns” the plane. The NCO’s to-the-point reply: “General, when’s the last time you washed a rental car?” We think that may say it all. None of us washes our rental cars. There’s no ownership. And there’s no ownership if you’re a specialist, no matter how well trained, if you’re responsible only for two square feet of the right wing of a hundred planes. Only whole planes fly. – The quote investigator
Over the past year I have had the pleasure of working on several projects that I don’t “own”. I’ve learned new lessons in community and new lessons in the simplicity and complexity that is the paradox of truly loving one’s neighbor. More people are volunteering now. Or are they? Both the number of volunteers and the volunteer rate rose over the year ended in September 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 63.4 million people, or 26.8 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2008 and September 2009. In 2008, the volunteer rate was 26.4 percent. Economic New Release in January of 2010 It is important to note that in 2005 it was at 28.8 percent.
As I talk to people in my district here in Madison, TN and throughout Nashville I see an optimistic desire to create opportunities. Even if you don’t have a child in that neighborhood school, you need to know that you own it. Do you use one city park but not another, do you have that sense of ownership in the entire park system? If homelessness is an issue in one part of town, it’s time to own the problem no matter where you live. If the use of mass transit is something you want to be relevant to you, speak up and own the vision of the future for your region. Do you want more public art and music classes? How do you own these things?
It’s easier to just pull out of the rental lot – use the service and bring the car back dirty to leave for someone else to clean. Maybe if we all find the time to find ownership in our communities we will all see them shined and polished like never before.
This post originally appeared on this blog September 2010
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