Complacency in the workspace

There are many things in the workplace that can be repetitive and that can cause you to be complacent. Being complacent can cause you to lack attention to detail in the simplest areas. Now being complacent and not paying attention are both reasons why you should not be on the phone, why you are on a tank, because that can lead to major consequences, if anything were to go wrong, but you would not have been able to notice the problem, if one were to occur, due to your complacency and not paying attention at the exact moment the problem were to arise.

Everyone knows the famous quote “complacency kills” and in my case, it really could have happened. Last Friday at the tank ramp, we were doing services on the tanks, in order to make sure the pack, or engine, to the tank works properly. One of the last things we had to do with that tank was to start it up and make sure nothing was messed up with it. Obviously there had to be somebody in the driver’s hole in order to start it up, so I jumped in there and waited until I was told to fire it up.

And due to my moment of complacency, I decided to get on my phone, which was not the best given decision at that time. After about five minutes or so, I was told to fire it up and as it was in the process of starting, I continued to play on my phone, once again poor decision making. Then all of a sudden I hear someone in the background yelling, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying, then I hear it again much louder someone saying to kill the tank and at that moment I panicked a little bit.

The reason the tank had to be shut down was because once I started it up, there was a big fuel leak, and there could have been a chance of a fire outbreak. Now I know that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the fact of the matter is if I wasn’t being complacent and decided to play on my phone at that moment, then better actions could have taken place and the problem could have been solved much quicker. There is no doubt in my mind that numerous accidents have occurred because we allow ourselves to become complacent in our everyday activities.

We have to work at it with the highest degree of awareness. If we just stop for a moment and think, we all can come up with instances of complacency. It happens because we perform many functions on an almost continuous basis. We become complacent about our personal safety and the safety of others by repeated exposure to situations without consequence. What are you giving your attention to in this moment? My answer to that question was at the time my phone, rather than my priority of doing services on the tank.

Complacency and paying attention can, for the most part, work hand in hand. If I wasn’t complacent then I would have been able to pay more attention to my surroundings and what was going on at that time. In all honesty, I knew what I was doing was wrong at the time, but again, complacency comes into place, and so instead I planned on doing some multitasking, but there are some people who are able to multitask to some degree, but we often delude ourselves about how good we really are at this. In my situation the result of my multitasking ended in failure.

One thing I could have done was to make sure that I was not distracted by irrelevant things in the surrounding environment, such as my phone. It’s easier for a mind to focus in an environment with fewer distractions, especially when you have important work to do, I’ll be more mindful and take that into account. Boredom can be a deciding factor that can lead to lacking of attention. The essential reason I was on my phone was because I was bored waiting in the driver’s hole. The attention to detail can be slurred due to boredom while working.

Now I thought all I was doing was simply starting and then turning the tank off with no problems, but a problem did happen and my attention was not directed towards the tank. In the Marine Corps, attention to detail is engraved into our minds the moment we step into boot camp. I lacked attention to detail that day due to my boredom, which caused me to become complacent and affected my ability to pay attention. There is always a time and place for everything. In my case, it was not the right time or place to be on my phone, when I was on the tank. Phones can be a very distracting device from time to time and it was that time.

Tanks require a lot of attention, especially during services, so I, being on the phone was certainly not the best decision. Ultimately, complacency plays a critical role while being on the phone. Now what if your tank commander, gives you a task and tells you to get it done within a certain time limit, but since you was on your phone, the task was completed late and with poor quality, and your tank commander yells at you and asks you why you were late with the given task, but you are unable to give a proper response and now you are given consequences due to your complacency.

That situation could have been avoided, but only if you weren’t on your phone and paid attention to your assignment given to you. I used this scenario because; it is a prime example, with some difference, of what basically happened to me. In conclusion, complacency was the biggest problem issued here. Because of me being complacent, I have prolonged a problem longer than it should have. Each topic that was given plays into each other with perfect synchronization.

Complacency plays into not being able to pay attention and so does playing on a phone while on a tank. Everyone has their moments where they didn’t pay attention, but this was not the best time that it happened. Complacency can affect any and every one, so it is best to keep yourself active, and if you can’t figure out anything to do, ask someone, most likely they can find you something to do, just be sure to stay off the phone and accomplish the task to the best of your ability.