A Thought To Think: Fixes That Fail

In our complex world, the decisions we make will almost certainly cause unintended consequences, either for the good or not so good. Often there is a time delay between a decision and its consequences down the road making it difficult to link the cause to the effect. This leads us to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Thankfully, the field of systems thinking gives us some tools for rooting out the underlying causes of these patterns when we find ourselves flounder in the midst of them.

Some of these patterns show up so often in our world that they are named and described well enough to help us see what is going on. One of these patterns is called – Fixes That Fail. Here’s a quick story to give you an idea of a fix that fails.

Suppose you have a goal of keeping your bank account in the black. In order to do so, you start putting off oil changes in your car. Things can go on like this for quite awhile, making you think you have a good strategy for keeping your account balance looking good. Unfortunately, slowly over time your car’s engine degrades to the point of needing a major repair which cost quite a bit more than regular oil changes ever would. In this case, your fix (put off maintenance) actually was counterproductive to your goal of saving money. This pattern shows up in innumerable places.

Why am I bringing it up?

I was recently reading about a flap over the hiring of a new technician in our town Water Department. I was struck by one comment voicing surprise over the fact that in this tough job market we received only two applications for what seems like a good job. I was still pondering this when my inbox lit up with the more recent flap related to allegations of impropriety by our Town Manager. Could these two flaps be related in some way? Is there a Fixes That Fail pattern at work here? Let’s take a look…

I think it is safe to say that most of us share a common goal of having good, qualified, effective, honest Town employees and elected officials that give us good value for the salary and benefits (often zero) we provide in exchange. In order to achieve this goal I have observed us holding them to impossible standards and publicly humiliating them or worse when they do not meet our particular personal expectations. By the nature of their jobs they must make decisions. When they make decisions that may not be the ones we personally want we, question their values, morals or professionalism.

We complain about the modest salaries we pay the employees. Many put up with the modest salaries in exchange for the retirement and healthcare benefits we promised and now chip away at. We put them under a public microscope should they happen to make a mistake. We sometimes praise them when we see them work round the clock in times of crisis, but complain if they use a Town resource for personal use at no cost to the Town (any one of us ever sneak a game of solitaire on a company computer while on lunch break?).

In addition to wanting flawless performance we expect them to lead their personal lives according to each one of our own individual code of ethics. Someone recently sought my advice about their running for a Selectperson seat. My answer was: “Are you crazy?” I cannot imagine why someone would intentionally expose themselves to such personal attacks by running for a Groton office or, say, School Superintendent or board member.

Do you think that potential Town employees do their homework regarding what it is like to work for us? Could it have something to do with our receiving only two applications for the technician job? Are we seeking the best employees, officials and volunteers we can find, but by our behavior we are scaring off very type of talent and performance that we are hoping for?

Just a thought to think…

Pat

(8 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Related posts:

1. Just a Thought To Think: Mining for GOLD – Shape An Ongoing Dialogue in Groton
2. Just A Thought: Failing Our Way Forward