I'm preparing to test for my Brown Belt in a style of Chinese Kenpo. That may not mean a lot to you, but within our system it's a pretty significant step. The body of knowledge required for the test is equal to everything involved in the 14 levels of skill and ability that precede it.
The test itself occurs offsite, away from the studio and is shrouded in secrecy. I've been going there for more than three years and still have no real idea where we will be going when we leave the school that Saturday morning. Nor, do I have any idea what will be expected of me other than my ability to demonstrate without question or hesitation that I have mastered the material I have been challenged to learn. No one, not even my closest friends within the school have said a word.
All I know is that I will truly be tested: asked to deliver everything I have to give and more. And, that if I am equal to the test I will have earned the respect of both those who have gone before me to meet that challenge as well as those who will follow.
In all reality, this seems to have little or nothing to do with our industry or fixing cars and yet it just may have everything to do with it. You see this is not the first time I've been challenged like this. There have been other times, other rules, rituals and rites of passage for me just as there have been other challenges, rules, rituals and rites of passage for you.
Some of you have may have served in the Armed Forces and survived boot camp; others may have experienced hazing when you 'made the team' in high school. You could have rushed, pledged and been initiated into a college fraternity or sorority or you might be a Mason, a Moose, an Elk or belong to some other charitable or fraternal organization. It doesn't matter whether or not that rite of passage or ritual was religious or secular. All that really matters is that barriers were strategically placed in your path and somehow, some way, through commitment, preparation, discipline, determination and training, you were able to overcome them. That is, after all, what rules, rituals and rites of passage are all about.
If you're Catholic, it could be Communion: if you're Jewish, a Bar Mitzvah. If you're a martial artist, it is ultimately your Black Belt test. If you are a Marine, it was boot camp and what is now simply known as 'the Crucible.' If you are a Navy Seal, it's Hell Week. It is the ritual or rite of passage that signifies arrival, the culmination of weeks, months, even years of hard work and the realization of specific goals and objectives. It is ceremony and circumstance; a doorway through which you pass and after which you will never be quite the same.
Professional preparation
If you choose to become a doctor, it is college, the MCAT, med-school, an internship, a residency and then a practice. If you desire to practice law, it is the LSAT, law school and the BAR Exam. Dentists have their Boards, accountants the CPA exam, teachers must become credentialed, manicurists and cosmetologists have to pass their State Boards and union tradesmen must first become an apprentice and then a journeyman before being recognized as a master. There are hurdles, barriers and obstacles in almost every profession and in almost every profession there is some degree of preparation and sacrifice required before you can assume your rightful place at the table. Every profession but ours. And that is where I believe this notion of rules, rituals and rites of passage has something to say to each of us.There are no rules, no rituals, and no rites of passage in our industry . . . no standards, no test, no crucible and no common thread of universally shared experience. There is nothing that all of us can honestly say 'we' have experienced, no single unifying experience to bring us all together . . . at least nothing yet.
We have ASE certification . . . but ASE certification isn't universal.
It isn't something 'all' of us have experienced. It would be great if it was, but there isn't anything forcing us toward certification. Consequently, there is no mutually shared experience to be found there.
What else is there? We've all had difficult and frustrating cars to work on. Some of us have had to deal with equally difficult and frustrating people. But, is that the same thing? Is it universal enough to ensure the confidence that comes from knowing the person next to you has been through the same catalyst? I don't think so.
There are no standards and consequently, no test. There is no universal challenge and consequently, no common experience, no universal consciousness, no consensus.
The path
Each of us has come to his or her place in the industry in their own way, on their own terms. You may have sat at the feet of a master and learned the lessons that master believed it would be necessary for you to know. Or, you might just as easily have picked up bits and pieces of knowledge along the way from anyone and everyone who could serve as a teacher, model or mentor. You might have gone to technical school . . . or, maybe not. You may have been tested, formally tested . . . or, perhaps, not.Even if you did go to school and even if you were tested, there is no guarantee there is anyone else in the industry, anyone that did not sit beside you day-by-day, that could have shared the same experience. And, while that may bring with it some wildly romantic notion of courage and independence in the face of insurmountable odds, it does more to drive us apart than it does to bring us together.
I would submit to you that because we do not share a powerful, common and uniting experience, we do not share a sense of responsibility for one another. Because we do not relate to one another through that common experience, we have no empathy, no understanding, no compassion and certainly no sense of loyalty to one another. And, therein may be found the root of almost every one of the many problems that holds us captive personally and keeps our industry from moving forward collectively.
Unity
If there were three Marines in a bar it would be virtually impossible to start a fight with just one of them. Try to fight just one, and you will find yourself fighting the other two as well as every former Marine in the bar: Once a Marine, always a Marine.If you attack a doctor or a lawyer, no matter how valid your indictment, you will find it almost impossible to find another doctor or lawyer, to speak … let alone act against the other. There are many other examples, but I'm not sure listing them will make any difference because they are examples of how things could be or should be, not how they are for us.
More important is the underlying reason for this kind of mutual commitment. In my mind, it has to be the result of that shared experience: The discipline, determination, drive, commitment and stamina required to persevere and the knowledge that the other poor bastard next to you had to go through the same hell you did … the sweat, the torture and the courage. And, out of that comes a bond few people who have not shared as much or as deeply will ever understand.
If conceived and constructed correctly, that's what rules, rituals and rites of passages are all about. They force you to look deep inside. They require coming to grips with who you really are and what you are really capable of. They demand you identify, confront and overcome the demons that lurk in the dark corners of your mind. They call for a level of honesty those untested will never know or understand.
The issue isn't whether or not rules, rituals and rites of passages may be important . . . or, could be important, or should be important. They are important. They are crucial, in fact. It isn't a matter of whether or not we need them either. The need for unity - an industry that speaks with one voice, projects a single image and recognizes one standard of excellence - is perhaps the only thing that will allow us to leave the inequities and insecurities of the past in the past where they belong. The only issue is how to create them and once created how to implement them.
The foundation is there
Do we start with certification? Of course! Why reinvent the wheel when we have something that is round and rolls. We have ASE, and ASE has history, time and experience on its side. Can it be improved? Sure. Anything can be improved, but that's up to you and me just as much as it's up to them. We are not without responsibility in matters that involve our own future, our own destiny.What about standards? How can you know what to test until you know what you have to know in order to do what you have to do? And, after standards, how about some education and training - mandatory education and training - unless you are willing and able to challenge the requirement by either hands-on testing and/or a written test?
Rules become the standard by which you are judged and judge yourself. Rituals carry with them a sense of history. Rites of Passage, the right Rights of Passage, can result in greater confidence, higher self-esteem and a more positive self-image, all of which are desperately lacking in this industry. Rules, Rituals and Rites of Passage strip away all but the very essence of the self, which can then be refined or rebuilt. They bring with them a reverence for history, a profound respect for all those who have preceded you and a sense of community with all those who have been challenged as you have been challenged, as well as a sense of acceptance for all those yet to come.
If we really are serious about this industry as a profession and ourselves as professionals, we have a responsibility to act and to act responsibly. Perhaps the time has come for a 'Symposium on Professional Standards in the Automotive Service Industry.' Perhaps it is time for our leaders to come together and not just discuss what must be done, but to actually begin the process: to help define the rules, create the rituals and implement the rites of passage.
This Saturday morning, I will wake up before the sun rises to meet the challenge of another Ritual, another Rite of Passage. I have followed all the Rules: met all the requirements. Whatever stands before me, I know one thing; I will leave the studio wearing a green belt and return wearing brown.
Monday morning, another new day will dawn on our industry. Will it be the same, or will it be different? Are you willing to look deep inside and accept the challenge? Will you help build the Rules, fashion the Rites of Passage, create the Rituals? Will you stand and be tested when the moment comes?
