[January 21, 2018] Five years ago, a junior U.S. Senator told a group of senior business and military leaders that the philosophy of American government was; If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It. The leaders in the room at the time, according to one of the more savvy business leaders, were shocked to hear that “Don’t Fix It” was the government’s way of not making waves unnecessarily.
Since that time, the group dispersed but a few have kept in touch and occasionally share new perspectives on how to do business better; faster, cheaper, and with improved quality. Standing still – economically or politically – is not an option in a world of competition for scarce resources.
The solution to those in government who don’t believe in taking effective action – unless there is no other choice – is to first get their attention and then make a concentrated effort to educate them. Like lobbyists in Washington D.C. who have a mission to get our government to make changes; in their case, for good or for bad.
A few years ago, I wrote an article about Tending the Herd; a common tendency of many large bureaucratic organizations to sputter along avoiding controversy and dodging problems. I proposed at the time that tending the herd is not good leadership. It is also not an effective form of leadership, especially in the long term, because it avoids accountability for failure and encourages intellectual laziness.
The British call this philosophy “muddling through.” Regardless of what we call it, the fact remains that it is a common way of business in the military, commercial enterprises, and governmental operations. It does not work. Leaders who hear someone say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, should question the person making the statement. Perhaps some education on the problems of it will help.
I spoke with an aircraft mechanic years ago after being stuck in Atlanta airport overnight. He told me that a number of mechanics had been fired recently for having the idea that this might work. Imagine an airline that works under that principle to expect airplanes to fail before they decide to fix them.
Leaders should never entertain such an idea. It is outdated in a dynamic society where change is the wave of the future. If nothing is changing and we live in some feudal society, then perhaps it would work. But not today.
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