The Writings of Hall Tennis

THE PUBLIC POLICY AND THE LAW

Introduction:

I live in a community where the majority of the prosperous people are direct
beneficiaries of monthly checks from the paymasters of the U. S. government: Most notable the military, the civil service, and the Social Security Administration. This is a famously conservative community in politics. Mr. Everyman’s favorite complaint is about the wasteful practices of government workers of all kinds– including elected ones.

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For some reasons out of my bureaucratic experience, I always think of it as The Comprehensive Planning Process. An unimportant embellishment, I know. 

If there is any one thing you should be famous for, this is it. I don’t care who originally invented it. Like most good things, many people did. All about the same time because they were creating out of the same culture, the same intellectual environment.

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Lesson Number One:

There is good statistics and bad statistics.

As with most thing in life, what is bad can only be appreciated by
understanding what is good. An example of a good statisticis is “the average
weight of the Raider’s offensive line 268 pounds”. This is known as a
Descriptive Statistic. It is a measurement that tell you something about a
group of objects or events.

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Joe:

Yes.  It is a good idea.  Like many good ideas, it is mostly good as an idea,
not an action.

It can be done, IF:

1. one person makes the decisions and they are (rightfully) respected by
2. everyone else.
3. someone else can do the cost estimates, but that one person has to be able
   to bounce them back for revisions.
4. someone else can do the work program proposal, but that one person has to
   be able to say yes or no to its content.
5. someone else…etc, etc, but one person has to be etc, etc.

A team can do a lot to make an enterprise go, but it has to have a manager.
If a manager cannot say the final Yes or No, she is not a manager–only a
chairperson.

About half of marriages lead ultimately to divorce.  About half of the new
profit making businesses fail.  Most such failures are not because of
incompetence, but from poor information, poor judgement, venality, peripheral
ignorance, and the unintended outcomes of the best thought-out activities.

I believe that Team Methods can work.  Leadership can make it work.  The
rules have to be clear–even when unstated or simply implicit. No one should
get her entire income from a single Team’s  activity.  One leader who leads.

Example:

Team Leader Announcement:  “I have a tentative committment from a corporation
to buy a whatisit project at a price that looks like a cost-plus deal for the
team that produces it.  I am assembling a team to do the job.  We have to
meet face to face.   If you are interested, etc.”

Unfortunately, not everyone who thinks he is a leader, a potential team
leader (and can you imagine someone who thinks he/she is NOT a potential Team
Leader?) really is.  I find that difficult, yet I suspect that in any given
situation, at least 50 percent (half) of us are (is?) not the right person
for the task. Now that’s a real downer.

Democratic election is not the answer.  Command of resources is.  Control of
the contract is.  The Golden Rule:  he who has the gold rules.

L–h.

• Give & receive information
• Know and use the resources of the group
• Understand the characteristics & needs of the group
• Represent the group to others
• Set an example
• Plan the fulfillment of goals
• Evaluate activities & atmosphere
• Counsel individual learning
• Control & guide the group
• Give and receive leadership
• Manage learning opportunities

Community Analysis Division

Dade County Government

January 1975