This is another recollection of what I consider to have been a significant period in my life, when I was Age 17 – 19 Part 2.
Bouncing off walls….
Work
I was developing well in my role as an apprentice , but I found that I was actually very good within the management side of running the service department office. Due to the management style (see Leadership Part 1 blog re organisational management styles), there was a lot of staff turnover at the company I was doing my apprenticeship at. I was now just over half way through my apprenticeship, and I was now the second longest serving member of the service department. I found I was spending as much time in the office helping run the service department, rather than being out of the tools learning about the trade. This was not a conscious choice – more of something that seemed to naturally happen. Telephones were riding, and as we were under staffed, I would just pick up the phone to take a message. Then one thing led to another. I would take an order. I would be asked to follow up, and then the people assisting me at the other end of the phone at one of three (3) manufacturers of Renault Australia, Peugeot Australia or Citroen Australia would call back and ask for me. Soon I was getting to know them, and given that I was also well trained by all three manufacturers in specialist training, I noticed I had developed reputation for both knowledge and reliability.
Assisting on the phones, then gravitated to dealing with customers. Customers would call to make service appointments for their cars, and then when they arrived on the day, they would want to speak to me about what we have previously spoken about. Then once the customers returned to collect their cars, they again would look for me.
It seemed they found it easy to talk to me, and perhaps someone who listened to their issues, and then followed through to make sure their issues were addressed; or if those issues couldn’t be addressed, then at least the issue and possible solutions were outlined to them with an approximate cost and time frame of what it would take to get the issue resolved to their satisfaction.
I admit to liking this aspect of the job. It was a role that as time progressed with the ongoing staff turnover, I was soon the longest serving member of staff in the service department, with the largest amount of local and historical operational knowledge. The department was over time developed with more competent staff employed. However, I seemed to have my dual role cemented into the culture, allowing me to develop both my organisational system skills, as well as keep progressing my technical skills.
Motorcycle racing logisitics
Whilst my motocross career was on hold, I became more active within my motorcycle club. By chance, this motorcycle club hosted the largest production motorcycle race of the day – the Castrol 6 Hour Motorcycle race – at Amaroo Park Raceway. As the club was a not for profit association, the Castrol 6 Hour Motorcycle race was run on the back of volunteers – volunteers made up of the motorcycle club members, family and friends.
(Scaysbrook 2016)
As this race was a production race, all of the motorcycle participating needed to be scrutinised to ensure that they complied with the specifications of the bikes that were available of the showroom floor to the general public. This meant that all of the motorcycles needed to pulled down priorate the race, inspected, and then reassembled by the owners, under the watchful eye of the scrutineers, and then sealed, to ensure that no changes had been made to the specifications at any point.
For the first few years I was involved, I was a scrutineer observer: watching from a close distance to ensure the racing teams wre not tampering with the scrutiny seals. However, given I was an apprentice mechanic, I was gradually brought into the main scrutinising team. Before long I was applying my developed sense of systems and processes to the team, to eradicate the gaps I observed in the scrutineering process where unscrupulous racing teams could take an opportunity to make prohibited changes. I recognised that the systems and processes I were advising and implementing was a skill I had innately, that was being developed within my dual role at the service department.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goXeJtSSXBw&t=25s