Leading from the Middle

Caption: Some would say that blogging is a bit like spreading
manure in the fields. Something may or may not grow from it.

Please note that this blog is moving - sometime soon - I
hope - to a new platform. The current platform on which I have
been for 15 years is no longer supported and no one appears
able to deal with the sneaking decrepitude.
In the meantime, beforen I land on a new platform, all 15 years of the blog can be found in the archives via the search function.
The text will look odd and will have glitches, but it will all be
there.
I have been reluctanct to post on the old platform (too much editing, working around, and the result is unattractive), so I have accumulated about a dozen or more items for posting once I get to a stable platform.

*I’m back in Latvia; about a week now.
Riga’s cold weather with freezing wind and a dusting of snow reminds me of a largely spontaneous event from a little over a decade ago: The Friends of Books Chain (Grāmatu draugu ķēde) () on January 18, 2014.
My wife and I took part along with thousands of others.
Below is a slightly edited version of what I had to say about this remarkable coming together of people, young and old, on a bitingly cold day to move thousands of books - by hand - from the old National Library to the new, winding through Riga’s old town and crossing the 160 yards
wide Daugava river. In total, a distance of 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles).
While here, I will be interviewing the principal organizer of the book chain and asking for her reflections – How did it come to be – whose idea was it? What went well, what did not?, Did you have a plan B (What if there were no turnout of volunteers)?, Was there a worse case scenario?
As the joyous day ended, what were your thoughts?
What did you learn about your own leadership and that of others? And so on.
I’ll publish the interview here, probably in March
--------------------------------
Why was I in Riga? After my Fulbright year in Riga, I was invited to teach at the University of Latvia my 8-week class on the Democratic Workplace. I arrived two weeks early in order to get over jet lag and, more importantly, to participate in the Friends of Books Chain on January 18.
The book chain was reminiscent of the 1989 Baltic Way, a cry for freedom (with people linking hands from Tallinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania, distance of 372 miles or 598 kilometers).
The January 18 chain moved books, plastic encased, from the Old National Library to the new National Library (The Castle of Light) from the City Center, along the cobble stone streets of Old Town and across the Old Stone Bridge to the nearly complete new building slumbering on the left bank of the River Daugava, a distance of 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles).


Caption: The first book in the chain - The (Latvian language) Bible of the Lambsdorff family (1825) reaches Līvu square. Photo by Ināra Kindzule.

Slumbering no more!


Caption: A bridge not too far. The Castle of Light in the distance across the Old Stone Bridge early January 18. Photo by John Lubans*

Forget the -17 Centigrade (1 or so in Fahrenheit), Latvians of all ages and Estonians and Lithuanians and even a few Americans came out and waited and waited and handled books, and sang folk songs and wept happy tears as the first book entered the new building and made its way through a multitude of hands up to the display shelves towering above the main floor.



Caption: Inside the new library, looking up at the marvelous soaring display for the incoming books .

What struck me most of all was how the Latvian organizers and planners responded to the enthusiasm of people wanting to take part. If you were not registered, that was OK. Join us!
Want to sing? By all means! Want to dance? Dance!
Indeed the towering speaker systems at the start and end and along the way boomed out rock and roll in American and Latvian, engaging and warming.
While planned for months, those plans changed at the last minute. (There is something we could call, the unplanned!) The extreme cold tossed in a wrench, as did the question of building occupancy, of allowing anyone into the yet unfinished building. This was exacerbated by the painfully fresh memory of the November 21, 2013 Zolitudes tragedy of a shopping center’s collapse in Riga in which 54 died.
Public tours were planned and hundreds of librarians, taking turns, were to complete the chain inside the library. The fire marshal said no.
Up to the last minute, several government agencies haggled over the terms of admission. One temporary resolution was to let the books into the building but no public tours, a guaranteed public relations failure.
Fortunately - if only for warmth - the public was allowed into the first floor.
As for the kede, the chain, the books traveled in fits and starts – there were bottlenecks. After I snapped this picture of the first book, a few more came by, but then no more books.

Caption: The first book (dead center) makes its way across the bridge, only 100 meters more to go!

We waited, patiently, spirits still high, unaffected by the cold - a pop-up tea tent provided hot tea - however ephemeral - which bolstered our spirits.


Caption: Waiting for the next batch.

And when the books re-appeared on the horizon, we were back on task.
Books were treated with respect. Perhaps too much respect, as some of the bottlenecks were certainly caused by participants, one pictured below, examining each and every cherished title.


Caption: On the access road to the Old Stone Bridge, a colonel browsed every book; an advertisement for the love of reading!.


Caption: Nearby the colonel, a young person in pink joins soldiers in camo.

There was a self-organizing element among the 14,000 participants. With minimal instruction, they created two rows and passed the books back and forth. If there were not enough people for two rows, one sufficed.


Caption: Inside the library, the lines sang and sang.


Caption: Book friends clasped hands and went up on the bridge to take the next shift in the chain, dozens pouring past me.

There appeared to be the right mix of guidance by the organizers, certainly nothing heavy-handed or verboten!. It was as if the operational guidance, when needed was “accommodate, accommodate, don’t deny, don’t deny”.
What does it take to involve so many different perspectives on libraries, books and reading? Trust was apparent that the many would do what was right, not harm any book, but to honor each book, as it was meant to be.
The last book, randomly (and highly apropos) selected, of the 2000 volumes that were sent from the Old to the New was, : “Balandnieki” by Pēteris Upenieks – a book about the Catholic Suiti community in Western Latvia, one part of Latvia's folk or ethnographic movement.


Caption: Ināra Kindzule (librarian and former student) holds a book with the title in English: "I was there." Photo from Ināra Kindzule.

*Unless stated otherwise, all photos are by the author.

___________________
ONLY a click away, a last gasp for Valentine's Day:

And, my book on democratic workplaces and what leaders can do with limited resources and unlimited imagination, Leading from the Middle, is available at Amazon.

Copyright John Lubans 2014 and 2025

The Latvian Natural History Museum animal of the year 2025 is the irredeemably cute but spiky mammal, the hedgehog.
And the announcement of this year's mammal inspires me to republish an original fable, The Hedgehog and the Birds which first appeared in this blog in March of 2016.

There was a Hedgehog who admired birds and their freedom. Every day, he sat in the meadow and looked to the sky dreaming about flying.
One day he climbed on the cliff and a flock of birds flew over him. The Birds asked him: Come with us, be one of us! Hedgehog was so excited about this idea that he immediately ran over the cliff to fly. And for one moment he flew with the birds. That moment did not last long.

Without wings you cannot fly or, as they say in Africa: A small elephant is not a rabbit.

The puzzling African proverb about small elephants and rabbits inspired this fable about flying hedgehogs.
Wishing you were something you are not does not always make it so.
Icarus, with his glued-on wings, soared too near the sun, and plummeted, like our hedgehog, to his demise.
Hedgehog - who has a special place in Latvian folklore and folk art - might have done better to hop onto a drone to ride alongside the birds.
Aesop has, it seems, little patience with those dissatisfied with their life situation.
The tortoise that badgered the eagle to take him aloft is soon dashed to pieces on a rock.
The bee that implored Jupiter for a weapon against those who steal his honey, gained a stinger only to die using it.
At the same time, the shipwrecked Athenian praying for rescue, is advised by a more pragmatic passenger: While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms! (How often did that bit of advice about helping yourself cross my mind when I was told something could not be done? Floundering, alas, was preferable to doing something.)

*From the 2016 workshop, Wisdom in a Thimble: Managers and Fables led by me at the National Library of Latvia in Riga. Written by Viktorija Vaitkune, Zane Zvaigzne, Gita Rusevica, Elita Vīksna, Agnese Kokneviča, Liene Kalneta and Eva Ausēja.

___________________
ONLY a click away, in plenty of time for Valentine?s Day:

And, my book on democratic workplaces and what leaders can do with limited resources and unlimited imagination, Leading from the Middle, is available at Amazon.

© Copyright all text John Lubans 2025

Caption: Illustration by Microsoft Copilot, December 18, 2024
First posted in August 2019, in the style of George Ade, here is a 2024 version re-cast by none other than Microsoft's AI.
It was an unusual sight. Behind the town Bank, in its parking lot, a backhoe was digging away, tearing out hunks of asphalt, concrete, and dirt. Dump trucks roared off with the debris.
Lastly, a truck with a vacuum hose as big as an elephant's trunk and a tank big enough to drain a swimming pool came by and plunged into action, sucking up something out of the hole.
It was hard to tell what the project was about. Whatever it was, it left a deep hole in the ground, surrounded by fluttering yellow tape that read "Danger - Work Area."
Each day, for several days running, a man dressed in a banker's Vice President suit came out through the back door of the Bank - usually around quitting time -and walked over to the rim of the hole.
He stared and pondered, appearing to be in deep thought.
This sight - the man and his hole in the ground - bemused departing workers (BTW, if you do not believe in Resurrection, be here at quitting time).
Some were impressed by his dutiful Diligence, whispering, "No doubt, he's making sure the job is done Right." A few wondered, "I never knew he had an Engineering degree!" while others - a disrespectful few - tittered, "When is he gonna jump in"?
Eventually, the hole was filled, and the parking lot was freshly paved and newly lined; it looked Spiffy.
Probably a good thing, the man no longer stopped to look at what was now a filled-in Hole.
Sometimes it takes a hole in the ground for a man to feel Important or was that impotent?
PS. Another (sink)hole to gaze at in this story from Latvia.

*The 2019 version, pre-AI, of this fable can be found here.
__________
ONLY a click away, still in time for Christmas:

And, my book on democratic workplaces and what leaders can do to look important, Leading from the Middle, is available at Amazon.

© Copyright all text John Lubans 2024

Caption: Not 2x4 Management

A colleague who grew up on a ranch in Texas, told me of a fail-proof method for saddle breaking a bucking bronco: the Way of the 2x4.
One of the ranch hands would lead the recalcitrant horse behind the barn and teach it a lesson with the 2x4 board.
The horse would return subdued and willing to give the saddle a try, or so it seemed.
Effective?
Yeah, so is a kick in the ass (fear). It moves an unwilling object a few inches forward. But, then you have to maintain the fear to sustain the external motivation.
So, the wild-eyed bronco may have lost the vicious gleam in the eye, but the lesson may be short lived.
I suspect the ranch hand never walked behind any of the horses he'd abused with a 2x4.
All this is by introduction to a corporate Way of the 2x4: the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).
The WSJ article has a subscript:
The Most Hated Way of Firing Someone Is More Popular Than Ever. It?s the Age of the PIP. Performance improvement plans are on the rise. Workers dread them. Managers do to.
The workplace PIP is generally regarded as the penultimate step to the inevitable dismissal of the employee; indeed, the threat of a PIP is often enough to get the unwanted staffer to quit.
However, the PIP is a tacit admission of failure on the part of the organization - the failed employee should never have been hired and the manager and the HR consultant who hired the failed employee should be (but won't be) disciplined as well.
In my career, I know of one manager (Jill) who used a PIP to address a long-term problem employee (Jack).
Other supervisors had given up on Jack, preferring to isolate and avoid him. Swedes have an idiom for such behavior, "to walk like a cat around hot porridge." Cute.
But not Jill. Like my 2x4 wielding cowboy, she rode Jack hard.
I think Jill enjoyed it, maybe channeling some personal torments into the daily monitoring required by the PIP.
Funny thing, Jack survived.
He, like the horse behind the barn, was subdued but his resentment lingered. If he was 50% effective before the PIP, he was now at 60% but with a smoldering grievance further occluding his view of and loyalty to the workplace.
What can one do instead of taking a figurative 2x4 to the problem employee?
Sticking with my equine metaphor, horse whisperers suggest there are better ways than a beating to bring along a recalcitrant employee.
Horse whisperers, like Kelly Marks, have qualities that translate to the workplace. Ms. Marks finds solutions to problem behaviors that benefit both horses and humans. How does she, and other horse whisperers do that?
Here's what get results in the pasture and in the office:
Empathetic managers and horse trainers foster a supportive environment.
Working with horses (and humans) requires patience - lots of it - to build trust and overcome behavioral issues
Whisperers communicate effectively with the horse. Clear and consistent communication in the workplace helps prevent misunderstandings.
Managers who use positive reinforcement (a kind word or a reward for specific behavior) now and then) can motivate employees and boost their confidence.
Trust is crucial. (Good luck on any trust surviving the first session of a PIP!)
Horse whisperers adapt their approach to meet an individual horse's needs. Managers of humans can do so as well.
Perhaps needless to say, these are the ways of effective leaders of humans.

*In British slang, getting the pip derives from a bird disease of the tongue. Over time, a pip is having a bad mood, feeling irritable or grumpy. In other words, it is the way both the employee and the manager feel when called upon to pretend to seek improvement in a problem employee?s performance when both know the PIP is a phony process to avoid a legal challenge to terminations.
Finally, James Carville (a Democrat party operative) in assessing his party's collapse in the 2024 election, grumbled about know-all appartchiks and supervisors who hire lame performers:
"If I were running a 2028 campaign and I had some little snot-nosed 23-year-old saying, "I'm going to resign if you do this," not only would I fire that motherf---er on the spot, I would find out who hired them and fire that person on the spot!". (Emphasis added)

_______________

The perfect stocking stuffer ONLY a click away at BookBaby:

And, my book on democratic workplaces, Leading from the Middle is available at Amazon.


Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

More than a few social media posters are absolutely certain. And they certainly are not going to include any contrarian ideas or skepticism about what they claim.
Social media is the epicenter for absolutist thinking, the My Way or the Highway kind.
Interestingly, many posts are re-posts and are removed at some distance from one?s own thinking.
Speaking of re-posting, I favor Ralph Walso Emerson who said, "don't give me quotations, tell me what you think."
But many do re-post. Why?
According to AI, there several reasons, but these two stand out:
Validation: shares, we are told, can provide a sense of validation and boost self-esteem. Social media can act as a feedback loop where people feel rewarded for sharing content that like-minded others engage with (supposedly). In any case, AI suggests we get some kind of jollies out of re-posting, especially with a savage stab at the SEND button.
And then there's our chartibable selves coming out - we certainly think we are doing a service by, sharing Information and Influencing others. Many see social media as an impactful tool (which brings us back to the psychological quirk, validation of self.)
OK. We can do all that, but what options do we have when we see something we view as particularly egregious, incorrect, biased, distorted, prejudiced, one-sided, parti pris!, warped, jaundiced, inimical or misrepresented? Whew!
Of my Facebook friends, there are a few who seek confrontation, like a belligerent drunk who wants to fight everybody in the bar.
Well, on Facebook, you can make a comment, hold your tongue, pick an emoji, or click on the like button. So social media, at least what I see of it, channels us into assent and discourages our dissent.
AI tells me that Facebook did consider the idea of a "dislike" button, but decided not to.
Why?
A thumbs-down button could lead to negative consequences, such as cyberbullying and promoting negativity on the platform.
Anyway, we like the like button.
Why?
Positive and Negative Feedback: We seek approval and positive reinforcement, which is why a thumbs up feels rewarding. It is said to trigger a spritz of happy dopamine.
On platforms like X, feedback is visible to others, which can amplify the emotional impact. Positive reactions can lead to a sense of community and acceptance, while negative ones can feel like public criticism leading to ostracization.
Instead, of a Dislike button Facebook offers Reactions, to express emotions like like, love, haha, wow, sad, and angry.
Does any social media platform include an option for expressing genuine skepticism about something you have invested your time in reading?
So let's get to the res: What about expressions of skepticism, especially for those re-posts that you arguably believe to be propaganda and a lazy way to express a world view.
Don't bother?
Perhaps nothing on social media should be taken seriously. It?s entertainment.
I am interested in cute kid, cat and dog pictures and stories, but as for enlightenment about life, I'll take the real thing.
AI suggests, when I am skeptical about a post, I use something like this: 🤨💭❓ (Raised eyebrow + thought bubble + question mark)
Cumbersome, but maybe better than nothing.
The trio might convey "Hold on, mon ami, why should I believe your single-sided point of view?" without getting into a fist fight.
For me, responding with a well thought out comment is time consuming if I want to convey my meaning without a back and forth. So, I do not bother and keep on scrollin'.
Let's shift some of the burden of explanation/clarification/revision on the poster or re-poster.
Why not use the "universal signal that something requires a response or further thought"?
A stand-alone question mark.


_______________
Speaking of skepticism, open up one of my books and find it in abundance about the workplace and leadership. Order here:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Caption: Sometimes, a cartoon is so good, I am motivated to make up a blog!

When Washington bureaucrats first read of DOGE* - the latest plan to reform (reduce) government - how many, do you think, were heard to mutter, "When pigs fly", or more likely, with emphasis, "When hell freezes over"?
It's been many-a-moon since any downsizing in the federal government.
Like Topsy, it's "growed" just like C. Northcote Parkinson predicted it would back in 1955 in his good-humored booklet setting forth his economic law: "work expands to fill the time available for its completion."
Or, in terms of an agency's staffing, "tasks will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for them."
There are two solutions to this: hire more people and increase the cost of doing business or insist that current staff figure out how to deal with increased demand.
Obviously, the latter is much more challenging for the leader to achieve than the former.
And, as long as there is a source of ready cash, whether through high profits or taxation, the former will all too often be the preferred strategy; it's the easy way out.
Usually, it is a lack of cash that drives reductions in force (RIF). The boss can shed crocodile tears and blame shrinking income as the reason for letting people go.
This is effective to a point, but does nothing to reform the reason behind the bloat. Saying, "I am sorry, I have no choice" is not the same as saying "We have a choice. We are obligated to reduce our costs (remember the deficit!) while doing our important work. It is up to us!"
Getting to keep some of the savings, can be a major impetus for desired change.
Another source of administrative bloat, is envy. Yes, the same kind of envy one encounters in mens' locker rooms.
Staff envy. If a deputy in one agency has an assistant, all deputy administrators must have an assistant!
If an assistant to a deputy has a personal assistant, all assistants must have a personal assistant.
Or, mimicking fads, if one agency has a DEI unit, all agencies must have DEI units. If those units each number 12 individuals, all agencies must have DEI units with at least 12 staff.
Hence government's great burgeoning.
Lest you think I am an ungrateful curmudgeon, I believe, for the most part, everyone in most agencies is doing something of value, but - and this is a big but - most if not all those workers could be doing more and at a lower cost.
What is blatantly missing when visiting most government agencies?
Urgency.
Too few have a sense of purpose and a dedication to doing something well.
It's as if the thrill (of serving mankind, of helping people in need) is gone or it's been taken away.
With a notable exception here in Oregon
most Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs) are reviled for their lack of urgency and the resulting poor service.
Will DOGE introduce an urgency apart from fear? Let's hope so.
In my own experience, I had some success in reducing the body count for one higher education organization.
When I mentioned to the units I supervised that I was charged with reforming the organization, the come-back was predictable, we need more staff not fewer.
This was followed by lengthy explanations of the dire consequences that would devolve upon our heads. Our high-quality work would deteriorate, clients would be dissatisfied; more staff would "burn-out"; existing backlogs would swell exponentially; etc.
And, when I persisted, I encountered the academy's version of the iron triangle. At the Federal level the iron triangle has three legs: Congressional Committees, Bureaucratic Agencies, and Special Interest Groups. Each blocks (have you heard of the RESISTANCE?) any attempt to reduce budgets. Imagine the fireworks when Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Musk lay down the law about remote work. Those iron triangles are going to be glowing red hot.
Every organization has an iron triangle that resists change and ultimately stops efforts to change.
What makes the difference? What cracks the iron triangle?
When the leadership is committed to the change and when the leadership has the backing of its supervising board.
My efforts at getting rid of baroque processes and redundancies, and reducing staff through automation would have gone nowhere without my boss having my back.
Notably, when I asked the people doing the work for their streamlining and cost cutting ideas they were forthcoming and those ideas were quintessential to our reforms.
What is different with what Musk and Ramaswamy are planning to do?
Besides their business saavy, they have the backing of their "boss", the iconoclastic Mr. Trump who says he wants to reduce regulation and the size of government to promote private sector growth and reduce costs for Americans.
And, speaking of urgency, the DOGE clock is ticking toward its self-imposed deadline of July 4 2026.
DOGE appears to be less a "political" crusade than a genuine effort to make the best use of our resources.
We can all get better. Rarely does doing so require more staff, more money, more equipment, more, more, etc.
Indeed, more gets in the way of invention by reducing necessity.

*The Department of Government Efficiency as proposed and administered by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in the incoming Trump administration. Some smirk that it's an oxymoron! The two words, government and efficiency, are contradictory, they say. We will soon find out.

_______________
John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Caption: Gladys by Microsoft Copilot, November 17, 2024
While visiting great grandchildren (Ruby and Sylvan) in Redding, California, something happened that reminded me of an essay I published in November of 2010.
As we jaywalked across a downtown street one night, Ruby put her hand in mine. Since she has seen me only infrequently, it was a sweet and trusting gesture.
Her hand remined me of one of the most poignant moments in all of Wodehouse's writings, a scene in his short story, Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend.*
I often ask students to read that story.
While some students can't quite figure out why they should, most catch on.
Lord Emsworth, the dreamy earl - a man who regularly flees from conflict - finally gets the courage to stand up to his overbearing gardener and his sister's hen-pecking.
While Lord Emsworth is the boss of the Castle, sister Connie - when in residence - beleaguers the chumpish Lord into wearing top hats and tails, and celluloid collars.
He'd rather be in his patched shooting jacket and baggy corduroy pants pottering about the castle's glorious beds of flowers and chirruping to his cherished Pig of pigs, the Empress.
My students read about the earl just ahead of our class on conflict. The students take a conflict self-test and discover their preferred conflict behavior.
Almost always the class - similar to most other groups - scores highest at avoiding, accommodating, and compromising. The low-end scores are in competing (win-lose) and (the most desirable) collaborating (win-win).
Most students come away from this lesson vowing to be more balanced in how they deal with conflict.
All of us know how difficult it can be to be assertive - there are times when we should and we do; other times we choose the easy way out, slipping out the back door. Privately, we know we should have roared like a lion, instead we squeeked.
We flee to fight another day. Or do we?
Gladys, is the charmingly drawn heroine in Wodehouse?s story.
She, one of the urban school children visitors to an open house and fete at the castle, has serendipitously gotten to know the earl. He is bemused and charmed by her street-urchin, Cockney ways.
In the treat tent, when she takes two of everything, Sister Connie intervenes and puts her into a dark garden shed for what she grande-damishly deems inappropriate behavior.
Had only Connie asked, she would have learned that Gladys was not "pinching" but gathering the extra treats for her little brother, Ern, whom Connie had banished from the castle for "biting 'er in the leg".
Lord Emsworth, while avoiding the human hordes on the castle grounds, stumbles across and frees Gladys.
He empathizes, calls for the butler, and makes sure he packs a basket of food and other treats, including a bottle of port, for Gladys and her brother.
Later, when Gladys is pursued by the castle's gardener, McAllister, for picking "flarze" (flowers) - the earl had given her permission - Lord Emsworth finds himself in the line of fire.
Gladys hides behind him.
Lord Emsworth has had his moments with the gardener - a taciturn and formidable Glaswegian.
Today, facing the infuriated McAllister - with shaking knees and quivering soul - something different happens: "It was, in itself, quite a trivial thing, but it had an astoundingly stimulating effect on Lord Emsworth's morale. What happened was that Gladys, seeking further protection, slipped at this moment a small, hot hand into his"*
The worm turns.
Emboldened by Gladys's gesture, the earl tells off his gardener (and not long after; his sister).
It is, as one Wodehouse biographer wrote, a lyrical, rare and unfettered expression of emotion not just for the earl, but for all of us.
Gladys's portrait (above), amidst the flarze, just might capture some of her je ne sais quoi.

*P. G. Wodehouse, Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend; a selection from his Blandings Castle, NY: The Overlook Press (original copyright, 1935) 2002, pp.136-160.

_______________
John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

In the spirit of my recent An Immodest Proposal, here is a suggestion for Elon Musk's proposed Government-efficiency Commission (GeC):
Action Force Teams (AFT) that create a pilot for a legislated idea.
What is the deliverable? A working pilot. For example, in the case of rural high speed internet access, the pilot results in a functioning network for a largish geographical area taking into account terrain and weather. (Why this example? Broadband Internet access for rural America was enacted in 2021 with 42 billion dollars in the kitty. To date, "not one home or business has been connected through it.")
An AFT pilot is to demonstrably deliver the most for the least cost.
If feasible, assign two independent AFTs on the same problem but in different geographic locations.
The AFT will be free of:
regulations that include diversity, equity and inclusion requirements,
climate-change rules
price controls (artificial, arbitrary or otherwise)
preferences for union labor, and (in the case of the broadband Internet project)
schemes that favor government-run networks.
Each AFT is set up to implement legislation that is funded but stalled or being boondoggled.
Each AFT reports to the head of GeC and enjoys considerable latitude and independence.
After each pilot, an AAR (after action review) will enumerate what worked and what did not and what could be improved to help implement fully what was intended in the legislation.
AFTs use their best judgement to implement a fiscally responsible, functioning pilot using available resources.
No irreversible actions are to be taken.
When things go awry, then changes and corrections are made and learned from.
This is not a laboratory-controlled experiment; it is to show what is possible with a rapid hands-on implementation of what has already been legislated. The mistakes made along the way are essential in getting the best results in the national roll out.
Who?
Each AFT is a select, recruited group of action-takers, innovators, implementers, and pathfinders.
It is quintessential that each member, including volunteers, has a demonstrated ability to get real things done.
It is important that each member understands "urgency trumps all".
Action team members rotate off and on with a mix of people from not-for-profits, from government (including the military) and from industry.
Local communities are consulted to identify specific needs and to help develop a functioning pilot.
Compensation for AFT members is paid from existing funds in the stalled project or from projects that are evolving into boondoggles.
Team dynamics are addressed up front and resolved early.
Each AFT ascribes to and follows best practices for high performing teams.

John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle


Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Caption: Herb Kelleher, co-founder and CEO of Southwest Air winging it alone.

My Australian friend, Kaz Kazim, has been editorially skewering Qantas - Australia's national airline - about "the fundamental flaws of the management style that failed our national carrier and sent it tumbling into the doldrums, distrusted by staff and customers alike."
Qantas' Chairman Richard Goyder asserted that "you needed a command and control [style]through COVID"
Au contraire, says Kaz. Tightening control was not what was needed to survive and thrive. What was needed were a "shared vision, a collaborative commitment and well-informed and engaged staff implementing action."
Kaz's criticism of the Qantas chairman, reminds me of an AT&T CEO I went to hear speak, years ago, at a luncheon in Houston, Texas as part of a Public Administration class.
His speech was full of bromides, platitudes and cliches with little substance. I was not expecting to be inspired - I'll take care of that - but I was expecting unique insights and opinions on telecommunications.
Instead the AT&T CEO came across not as a leader but as a caretaker, a place keeper, an empty "suit".
Surely he did not get the top job by acting and talking that way? Or did he?
Do corporate boards want someone who looks the part (let's hear it for presidential) but does little more than keep the organization on an even keel?
Is that it?
Or, once hired the CEO prefers to be "better safe than sorry" by not taking on more risk. Risk taking is what leadership is all about. The true leader is a risk taker (depicted), self-deprecating, and always has a sense of who he/she is.
Didn't someone say many CEOs suffer from imposter syndrome? In some cases the imposture is real.
But, don't let me get too smug.
Am I any different than Goyder or the AT&T CEO?
Not sure. I was always a good second to a great #1, but what would happen if I went solo, like Hank flying on the wing?
How would I do in a crisis?
When crisis hits, the caretaker CEO hides, dissembles, since new ideas are foreign and risky.
During the pandemic, the airline industry, across the board, displayed little leadership. Airlines the world over panicked and did the same things.
They cut back staff and promoted early retirement in spite of huge governmental supplemental funding intended to help them weather the storm.
Once the pandemic ended, the airlines found they did not have enough staff, or planes, for that matter!
Imagine that. You are running a company and you fail to adequately plan ahead.
Worse, why did all these leaders do the same thing?
Even Southwest, about which I have blogged numerous times, went lemming.
Gary Kelley, who once notably and irrelevantly claimed to eat a banana a day, succeeded Hank Kelleher upon his retirement.
Kelley led SWA well, but not in Hank's inimitable way. While he built on past successes, he innovated little.
Kelley was an excellent second in command: fiercely loyal, honest and able to carry out complex and innovative decisions.
But when he replaced Hank, things seemed to shift into a lower gear.
Sure, much of the esprit de corps remained (To quote Hank: "It's in the DNA*") but the absence of Hank's looming persona took its toll.
Hank, if his leadership post 9/11 is any indication - SWA was the first airline back in the air - would have done the opposite of what the other CEOs did during the pandemic. Hank died in 2019, so he was not here for that panic, but I don't think he would have gone along with the lemmings.
Instead, he would have used the drop off in travel to upgrade systems, to streamline schedules, to rethink how and what SWA was doing, and anticipate what was next , etc. In so doing he would have avoided the gargantuan meltdown SWA suffered shortly after the pandemic.
Importantly, his contrarian leadership would have brought other airlines along; they would have followed him, the person leading the way, the tip of the spear.
In my own career, I found that taking a contrarian approach when everyone else was playing it safe, often resulted in significant improvement and productivity gains for my organization.
But, I have to remind myself, I did that as a second in command.
My boss had my back, as they say, and deflected the numerous slings and arrows of envy and jealousy and admonishment from people I upset with my contrarian ways and success.
That all changed for me when a new and unsupportive boss came on board.

*My Latvian cousin who works for Norwegian (an airline) was recently in the USA and flew SWA for the first time. She told me: "Southwest Airlines was really exceptional, what a great service and hassle-free travel!"
Like Herb said, the SWA spirit lives on.

Copyright, all text, John Lubans 2024