Systemic Dysfunction

In America most businesses are either manufacturing-retail, they make and/or sell something, or service oriented, they do things for you, like companies that mow your lawn for instance. Even governmental functions can be so organized, for example the government can either build a road ( manufacturing ) or audit your taxes ( service ) Among the service businesses are a particularly pernicious group which I call "systemic" organizations.

In a manufacturing or retail establishment there is a product and a process with a definitive beginning and end; usually the "end" is when the product is made and/or sold. The buyer then pays. In system oriented business the focus is not on an end result, but on the process, because there is no product. You are the product and the business gets paid along the way by servicing you. Thus many of the activities engaged in by these system oriented organizations are designed to keep you in the system because without you, the product, the business ceases to have an income and ceases to be; if you move on out of the system, no more income for the business enterprise.

Examples of system oriented businesses are hospitals, courts and insurance companies. Have you ever noticed that if you go to the Doctor they always find some other test or other thing that you have going wrong? Get a blood test and the Dr is likely to say your "levels are elevated". What the heck does that mean? Insurance companies are set up to take money from you, they make it so easy you can even pay on line, or have the money directly taken from your account. But file a claim! Then you find that the insurance company didn't get your check, didn't send the right form or lost what you sent them.

Bureaucracies are especially effective at this charade and DMV is probably the best example. You almost always have to go back to DMV two, three or even more times. You never have the right form or it wasn't signed by the right person in the right spot. And ask yourself, what does DMV do for you? It's nothing more than a glorified way of collecting taxes. They don't make it easy for you to get what you need taken care of, like they should, no, in fact they make it more complicated. Even when you have done nothing wrong you feel guilty. You walk on egg shells. You don't want to get in trouble with the "man".

Once entrapped in such a system it can sometimes be nearly impossible to extricate yourself. The judicial system is the best example here. Get into trouble with the law, even for a minor infraction, and you can expect months of going to court, paying bills etc. If you get into deep enough trouble you may go to jail, be on probation or parole. In this way you are almost guaranteed to be in the system for years! Job security for some cretin with a brow-ridge and anger issues.

"Oh", you may say, "you can avoid these systems by staying on the straight and narrow path. Just don't get into trouble". Ah, but the system makers have thought of this. They create so many rules and make things so confusing that it is easy to fall into their trap and then WHAMO, your in their system. Look at how many rules there are in our society. You can't do this, and you can't do that. When there are too many laws, then everyone is a potential criminal. It used to be that the lawmakers in Washington were part time politicians with full time jobs elsewhere, not anymore. They sit all day in their plush offices with their leather chairs creating more and more systems. This is why simple forms no longer have names, they now have numbers instead, things like W2, the 1040, the I-9; guaranteed to confuse.

This too explains why the government is against abortion or personal recreational drug use, because we don't want to make things easy on people do we? Heaven forbid that people actually use their brain to make decisions for themselves. We want to control what people do and what people say. We want them to be in the system. It's much like the movie the Matrix. In the movie machines live off the life energy given off by humans. In the real world systems do the same thing. Or to quote another movie, "I keep getting out, but they keep pulling me back in again".

Most people have 6th grade level educations. I have a master's degree and can barely figure out how all these systems work, never mind an 80 years old addle pated grandmother for whom English is a second language. That's why America imprisons more people than any other country in the world! Land of the free? Ha, we put more people in prison than the USSR ever did. Nothing is free in this country. It's the land of the expensive because those systems need to be fed, especially the judicial system. The one system that is supposed to protect our rights is the one that most imprisons us, but only if your poor. If you have money you can hire lawyers and attempt to get justice, look at OJ, look at all the Wallstreet scumbags. If your poor, recourse to the law is yet one more thing denied you: "With liberty and justice for those who can afford it".

Now that you are aware of this, pay attention, you will be surprised how many of these systems there are. Stand up to the systems! Otherwise….,

Plug in, turn off and shut up.

Thanks for the Cache

It seems hard to believe that it has been nearly seven years ago now since I first was introduced to Geocaching. And it was O. Rex who first turned me on to it. I had a GPSr, but we were using PDAs back then, Handsprings with a GPS attachment. I had one ( a gift ), but wasn't really sure how it worked. I was only dimly aware of this thing called Geocaching. Fast forward, and here we are marking significant milestones ( just passed # 300! ). While some people do in a month what we do in a year ( or four ), for me, it is not the quantity, but the quality. When I first started doing this, we were coming down off of some pretty big trips hiking out west. I ( we ) had some heady plans to see the world ( trekking in Nepal and hiking Patagonia ), but they were not to be. Health issues and life in general denied us these opportunities (so far). Geocaching became a new passion. A replacement for what we wanted to do, but could not. It allowed us to condense into a few hours some of the experiences it might take a week to do. It gave us something to do during the day; to plot and plan mini-trips that could be distilled into an evening or a Sunday. It helped define us and added meaning to what otherwise might have been just another day, or week, or year. Simple trips to the store became adventures and every foray to somewhere new became an excuse to geocache. Today, we have each cached in other states. We have even cached in another countries. We have cached in the summer, and the cold, in the rain and in the sun, day, night, we have even tied caching into camping trips and in our day to day work world. Heck, I have even cached with my mother. I rarely go anywhere without checking to see if there is a cache I can do along the way. While one of the best parts was discovering cool new places in my own state where I hadn't been, the best part was hanging around with my good friends and Rex in particular. You couldn't ask for a better caching partner. He has always been willing to do the crazy things few others would, canoeing in the rain, visiting cemeteries late at night, caching cold winter evenings, with Rex putting Christmas lights on his backpack. I, and I think we, have 100+ great memories because of geocaching we wouldn't have had. This is why I love geocaching. Thanks for the Cache

I am

An early April peeper sings

out its lonesome, solo song.

One voice against the gathering night

that goes on and on and on.

I am here, I am here, I am here

it says, announcing that it is

and all that matters is to be

alive on a night like this.

WHITE WATER RAFTING PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT

As a management instructor and consultant, I have periodically heard managers bemoan their lack of "control" in various settings. My typical response to that remark is that control is an illusion; there is really no such thing. At best, all we can hope to achieve is influence. I came to this conclusion, an epiphany really, several years ago during a white water rafting trip.

My buddies and I got stuck in a fairly aggressive section of river. There were rocks and white water waves everywhere. Fearing our immediate capsizing, we paddled like mad to keep our line in the river. The boat was heaving like a bucking bronco and many of my compatriots were holding on for dear life. Despite our frantic exertions, our efforts seemed to have little effect. After awhile we were unable to maintain our furious paddling pace and one by one my friends quite paddling at all. With each person who quit I noticed that our heaving was subsiding, though the river was no less riled. We were still rocking around quite a bit, but the ride was much smoother and significantly so.

As an experiment, I asked my friends to again put their back into their oars and paddle vigorously. They complied ( reluctantly, I think ) and again we were soon being shaken about. When we ceased paddling, again, our lot was much better in terms of our comfort. In fact, we found that we did not have to hold on as tightly as we had been.

I learned a lot from that experience. While I thought I was controlling the situation, my efforts were actually making matters worse. There was no way I was going to control the river, its size and strength were far beyond mine. But I did not have to control it. Like playing a musical instrument, it is important to know when and how to apply force, too much and you confuse the situation, too little and you lose any influence you truly do have. Rather than paddling crazily, it's better to apply small actions at the right time. Managing organizations and people is no different.

The WINTER OLYMPICS – Events I’d Like to See

I don't know about you, but for the past two weeks, I have been glued to my TV each night watching the Winter Olympics. The Olympics are truly a spectacle and rich in the human drama of competition, triumph and defeat. It is an opportunity for me, and I am sure millions of Americans like me, to see (and care about), sports they don't normally get to; such as curling and tandem luge. 

However, as I tend to have a warped sense of humor, as I watched the games unfold, I could not help but think about different events that are not currently part of the Olympic regimen and different takes on sports that are. Here is a list of things I have thought about in my sick mind over these past two weeks. 

I would like to see an Afghanistan Women's Olympic Ice Hockey team. Can you just see them skating around the rink in their burkas ululating as they do?

Full contact group figure skating. No more of this sissy stuff of people doing jumps and spins all alone on the ice. I think everyone should be on the ice at the same time showing their stuff. Points are earned for artistry, technical merit and evasion of bodily harm. Wait, maybe that's hockey?! 

Naked luge. This would certainly spice up a sport that, while exciting, is otherwise dampened by the fact that the winner usually wins by only fractions of a second. Now people will care a lot less about the time. ( interesting visuals, heh? ). 

Bazooka biathlon. While this sport is interesting from the standpoint that it involves skiing and guns, a clearly winning combination, I want to see some real firepower. This would also have the effect of making the skiing part of the game, the dull part, much more challenging. 

I think we can even combine sports from different events, like skating and basketball, or short track speed skating for the visually impaired. The various combinations are almost limitless; how about curling and freestyle swimming or cycling and downhill mougles? 

All in all, the Olympics are truly an example of humankind at its best, but maybe that's the problem for me. Like people who go to the races to see the crashes, I am one of those  who get entertainment out of watching people doing stupid things, like driving fast around in circles ( nascar anyone? ) and then interjecting the unlikely, the unexpected and even the absurd. On this note, whatever happened to Rollerball? Now there is a sport I can really get into! Maybe, if it was played on ice…..?

Green War

With everyone being more considerate of the environment and the term "green" showing up everywhere these days, I figured it wouldn't be long before some folks began to think about how to make the war on terror more "green friendly", so I thought that I would weigh in on the subject first. Here is my plan. 

Everyone knows wars are awful and that the killing of innocent civilians is a tragic consequence, but that's because heretofore wars have been fought with weapons. On the other hand, we here in the US have a burgeoning problem with garbage, its pilling up in the cities and fouling the countryside, thus, I believe we need to fight the war with garbage. This way we kill 2 birds with one stone, er, so to speak ( sorry Peta people ). 

Since we are flying over terrorist infested lands anyway, we fill up the planes with trash and dump it out along the way. This is less likely to kill people, but at the same time I believe it would have a tremendously demoralizing effect upon the enemy, especially if the trash was full of shoes and dead pig products which we know are historic anathema of the radical Islamic practitioner.  

It wouldn't be too long before the streets of Terrorland were full of old newspapers, rotting banana peels, and discarded electronic equipment. Some might argue that this is just moving the trash problem from one place to another, but I say, have you seen these places? If there exists a better place to create a landfill, I have yet to find it. We can also do them the favor, since they believe we are simply after their oil, by sending the oil we are all done with back to them. Let them figure out a way to recycle it. 

I believe my plan could end this war on terror in a matter of weeks, maybe less, then we could finally focus on the real important matters, like what Brittany Spears is up to these days. I am afraid she has had to take a back seat to all this war hoopla.

 

Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Management I Learned From My Dog.

• Dogs need training. A dog who does not know basic obedience is often a nuisance, and perhaps a danger to themselves or others. People need training too.
  
• Dogs need attention/time from their people. Spend time with your people!
  
• Dogs need socialization with other dogs to be happy and well adjusted. Even if it is an "only dog", a dog that has spent time with other dogs is better adjusted.
  
• Dogs work better in a group. My dog is happier as part of a pack.
  
• Leaders settle disputes. The "alpha" will jump in to settle a "fight".
  
• Leaders go first. The alpha dog will go out the door before any other dog.
  
• Leaders share, they can let other dogs play with toys. The alpha will not necessarily take all the toys for themselves, but will let other dogs take toys. They are confident in their ability to take it back if they have to.
  
• Dogs keep their nose to the ground and their eyes on the road ahead
  
• There is one leader – no big hierarchy.
  
• As the leader you must always be having to prove yourself ( other dogs will continually test you to be the next leader ) .
  
• Dogs need something meaningful to do. Dogs who have it in their nature to hunt, heard or guard are happiest when doing these things. If there is no outlet for this sort of behavior, then dogs may have behavioral problems.
  
• Dogs need direction, they want to be told what to do. Watch a well trained dog, they are keeping eye contact with the handler and waiting for the next command.
  
• Dogs fight but usually no one gets seriously hurt
  
• Sometimes you have to show somebody who is boss – hump their leg! Alpha female dogs will "hump" male dogs to show dominance.
  
• Dogs don't care what color(s) you are.
  
• Leaders watch the other dogs. The alpha tends to keep to itself, but is always watching what the other dogs are doing.
  
• Make time to sleep and play everyday.
  
• Meet new people at the door. My dogs cant wait for strangers to come to the house, they get so excited. Is your organization welcoming of newcomers? Are you excited because they are there?
  
• Dogs have clear boundaries and "mark" their territory. Does your organization have clear boundaries and clear roles?
  
• Stretch before doing any strenuous work. Dogs always stretch when they get up. If you stretch before working, you can minimize ergonomic related injuries.
  
• Avoid biting when a growl will do. Dogs usually give warning signs before escalating a conflict. Watch for warning signs between people as a sign of potential conflict.