Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go…….
What if one day the lamb decided not to follow Mary? Would it be a crime?
A major part of most individual’s lives is spent on FOLLOWING orders, ADHERING to guidelines, ABIDING to the set rules and regulations. Life soon becomes compartmentalized and before long one gets absorbed into a lame functioning government system.
As medical officers monitoring and supervising the managerial and administrative aspects units in remote Talukas of a district, life is all about attending meetings ,chasing targets, reviewing records, accounting expenditure, and meeting deadlines. They are ‘doing their jobs’ and they are doing it well, since they are following ORDERS.
And then one day they decided to do something contrary to the routine.
Through miscellaneous medias, many of them had been hearing the success stories of health system of another state. Their questioning minds wanted to know, the factors behind this success, which had been a far cry from their state’s [Karnataka] health system.
To find answers, they financed themselves to attend a conference sharing success stories in health from the other state. They participated in discussions, raised issues and visited the nearby health centers. The most significant impact of this conference on these medical officers was their final analysis comparing the health systems of both the states and the description of multiple elements which paved way for a health system to achieve so immensely.
In spite of the binding laws that hinder the smooth functioning at work, to find motivation from within to be curious, to question and to find answers and to not become the lambs within the government system is very extra ordinary. This amazing set of medical officers needs to be applauded for finding their driving force of wanting to make a difference, a difference to the community, a difference to the state`s health system and most of all a difference to one`s life.
A contrary view to this activity would be to bring in hierarchy; ego and irrationality to the incident and punish the lambs since they did not follow Mary or they did something that was not done before or they simply did not follow the orders….
If I was criticized for being this innovative, my question to all would be is self motivation a demotivator?
What’s your take?
