Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick – Jack Better Not Imitate Government

“Welcome to Government,” said my friend after I voiced my frustration at the lack of clear, unambiguous command and responsibility.

Most of us have seen the television crime dramas or movies where local law enforcement is investigating an incident when the black cars carrying the Feds arrive.  Guys in dark suits with dark sunglasses invariably step out, and one of them walks up to the sheriff.  He announces to the sheriff that he’s from the FBI and that the investigation is now under federal jurisdiction.

If only government and government agencies worked that cleanly!

In a parody of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, there are quite a few grey areas where agencies have to ask themselves, “Whose Jurisdiction Is It, Anyway?”

Legislation drafted by policy people and passed by politicians has created within many sectors a patchwork of jurisdictional responsibility.  The laws do not always make it clear who is in charge at any given time, and government agencies may not step over the bounds prescribed by law.

It’s all hunky dory when everything in the world is going well and the government machine hums along nicely.  However, what happens when the shit hits the fan and a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response is required?

Let’s say both Command Agency 1 and Command Agency 2 have legislated authority to direct a particular Do-It Agency.  Who does Do-It Agency listen to?  Command Agency 1 has its particular concerns and its particular responsibilities defined by the law.  Likewise, Command Agency 2 has its own concerns and responsibilities.  However, for certain tasks they both rely on the Do-It Agency to actually do it.

Time is finite, time is limited.  So are people, equipment, and money.  Do-It Agency can’t do everything – there are limits to how much it can do in a given timeframe.  So if Command 1 and Command 2 are each saying something slightly different, or possibly asking for completely different things, who is Do-It Agency going to listen to?

The law says “Both.”  Fine in principle, but imagine yourself with two bosses, and both tell you they have urgent tasks that have to be completed ASAP.  Whose takes priority?

Okay, maybe it comes down to the dinero.  Who pays you?  You’re going to listen to the one who pays you and give lip-service to the one who has authority over you but doesn’t feed you.  That’s also fine and dandy if your funding came from only one source.  Unfortunately, Do-It Agency probably gets funding from both Command 1 and Command 2.

Do-It Agency will not, in most cases, become paralyzed.  It will start doing stuff.  The problem though is that at some point Command 1, Command 2, and Do-It Agency will have to waste time and effort to work out the conflict of command.

Gee, and what is the most valuable, most critical, most I’d-give-my-left-nut-for-more element in an emergency?  Oh yes, TIME!

Thank you, legislators for creating a jurisdictional structure that will suck up time in the most inopportune circumstances.

Government is not made to be fast and agile.  Private industry on the other hand, and perhaps certain public sector agencies, have the opportunity to be quick and nimble.  However, the only way to do so is to avoid becoming encumbered by rules and regulations.  You have to trust your people to do the right thing, then get the hell out of the way.

But you need to have good people to do that.  In fact, you need to have excellent people.  The better your people, the less rules and regulations you’ll need to put in place – they’ll do the right thing.  They’ll know when the exceptions arise that require flexibility, and they’ll know when to hold the line and be strict about certain decisions.

Rules and regulations are made for the lowest common denominator.  The less you can trust your people – whether due to their abilities or their characters – the more rules you must lay down.  The end result of rules and regulations is like slapping on lead weights. Every time someone does something that causes the government political grief, more rules, regulations, and layers of control are put in place for everyone.

Laws are the ultimate rules (unless you live in a country where rule-of-law is laughed at, or where laws apply only to other people).  Government itself and government agencies are bound by laws that create jurisdictional and command difficulties that guarantee significant reductions in speed, agility, and effectiveness.

You might argue that some degree of inefficiency is a necessary cost of representational, democratic government – I would.  However, when it comes to dealing with emergencies, time means lives saved or lost, dollars (measured in hundreds of thousands, millions, or tens of millions) saved or lost, and public confidence saved or lost.

I don’t have a solution for this.  I’m simply pointing out what I see here in government and hoping that (a) those who are able to change parts of the system will do so, and (b) those who are not in government will avoid this kind of mess like the plague.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.  Be like Jack.  Learn Not from Government, Jack.