#21 Has the Pendulum Begun to Swing in the Other Direction?

I feel hopeful that with The Rupert Murdoch News of the World story, and the expanded reporting in newspapers including the Sacramento Bee, of misdeeds by local and state governmental officials -- change may be in the air.  My optimistic side feels as if this could be a start to the pendulum beginning ever so slowly the shift back to honesty and integrity in our corporations and government.   

The Rupert Murdoch story is particularly interesting as it shows us how pervasive the connections and corruption was/is.  It reached all the way to the Prime Minister, Scotland Yard, the Wall Street Journal and Fox News.  In fact this morning it was reported that Fox News was trying to lobby New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to run for President.  One reporter even wrote that News of the World  operated like an organized crime syndicate.

This incident has allowed us insight as to all the many organizations/people at the very highest level of government that were compromisable and compromised.   Incredulously those that were sworn to protect  -- police and watchdog organizations, were also involved.  Do we truly think that the United States or California is any different?  I don't think so.

Individuals who are honest and have integrity don't make it to positions of influence or power anymore.  Nearly all of our businesses and governmental organizations are run by people who are all about money -- the mean green.  We need to bring another reward system back -- ethics, morality, patriotism, some non-commercial human thing--that prevents this destructive and self serving behavior by our leaders.

How about leaders feeling a sense of self-satisfaction that they have done a job well done?  How about that they feel useful to society and that their life has some deeper meaning?  How about at the end of the day they can feel good that they have instilled a sense of ethics and morality in their workers which will carry on?  How about that?

I have a faint ray of hope because I do believe that morality is built into our human DNA....

More on that subject next week....

#20 The World is Upside Down

A few years ago a former co-worker used to say "world is upside down".  It was his way of expressing his frustration and disgust with an organizational structure that was no longer working.  I came across that same phrase while reading the book "The Big Short" about the collapse of the financial markets.  It was used when referring to an out of control Wall Street (before the collapse), in which nothing they were doing made sense. 

That is the way that I feel daily as I go about my retired life.  I get phone calls from former associates and listen to friends and others who complaint about their out of control, dysfunctional work places.  They all ask me questions about what I think about such and such -- I often say that it makes my head hurt.  The work world that I knew it for over 40 years no longer makes any sense to me.

Long ago I took an oath of office to the State of California.  That meant that I was loyal to the State (department that I worked for) -- not to any specific leader.  I was a public servant and I took that responsibility seriously.  The public, in some form or other, was paying my wages, and I was responsible (on their behalf) for doing my duties responsibly -- protecting and earning their trust. Those days seem to be a distant memory. 

Despite leaders and others signing that same oath, taking a mandatory course and signing a document showing that they have completed ethics training -- to include conflicts of interest -- those documents apparently mean nothing -- just something to sign, file away and ignore.  There must be another memo/oath that I missed, one that states the world of state government is your oyster -- make it work for you!

This take what you can get, however you can get it attitude is what is killing government and upsetting the general tax paying public.  If the public is served in any meaningful way, it is a happy accident.  When employees come forth and speak truth to power, they are vilified, shunned and perhaps even written up and terminated. 

Until those politicos, leaders and others that have created and perpetuated this giant debacle (for their own self-serving interest) are held accountable morally, financially and legally, nothing will change.  Real change cannot be built on a crumbling foundation.  Until that happens,  the world will continue to be upside down!

Note:  I have been so busy of late -- summer is keeping me way too busy to continue to blog two times a week.  Going forward look for my blog on Tuesdays until further notice.  And thanks to everyone who is reading -- I greatly appreciate it.

#19 We are All Connected

Shortly after I retired, I decided that I would reconnect with my gardening roots.  I signed up for an 18 week gardening class taught by Master Gardeners.  I learned about soil composition, water saturation rates, vermiculture and many other useful topics.  However, my favorite part of the 18 week class was learning the following:

Master Gardener, Bill Pierce, was telling of a landscaper that had called him and asked if  he could be responsible for killing one of the his client's trees.  The landscaper had cut down a tree 50 feet away from a healthy but now dying tree.  He had put stump killer on the remaining tree stump in order kill it  -- and the client was thinking that killing the stump had also killed the tree at the opposite side of his yard.  The landscaper wanted to know if this was even possible.

The answer was yes.  Trees and other plants with their extensive root systems send out feeder roots that cover quite a distance.  These extensive root systems  provide water and nutrients to other plants within the vicinity.  If one tree takes in water and food,  it automatically shares with the other trees and plants.  Plants as it turns out, are all interdependent upon one another.

I don't remember too much about all of the rest of the information that I learned -- but this one stuck with me.  And I loved it -- that plants are all connected -- just like we humans.  We all stand or all fail together -- although at times, it does not feel that way.  What is good for one of us is good for all of us.

I think that is what is wrong with our politics, our leaders and sometimes ourselves -- we pretend that we as people are not linked -- we somehow feel that we are better than the next, and they are of no moment to us.  But when we look out for one another, help one another, and teach another, we are forming a community of roots that tie us together and make us all strong.  When a person (co-worker, family member) starts to falter we collectively help out with our resources and strength.  And we are all the better for it.  We are all connected -- just like the plants -- whether we like it or not. 

It is time that we get back to our roots (literally), and start to live in sync with nature.  As the late, great Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in major league baseball said, "A life is not important except the impact it has on the life of others".  We should all live by those words.

#18 Does the Patient Want to be Healed

Several years back when I first discovered that the "patient" (defined as governmental and other institutions), did not want to be healed, I was absolutely aghast.  I could not imagine that malfeasance was knowingly being condoned and rewarded.  I now understand how naive I was. 

While politicos, leaders and others have a vested interest in maintaining this status quo, I  suspect the average worker would want the "patient" healed.   Employees would like their workplace to make sense.  They would like to trust what their leaders are telling them, and be rewarded for their good work.  They want to feel like they are part of something good, bigger and outside of themselves.  I do believe that humans like (and maybe even need) to feel useful.   It is good for our mental well-being.

Despite employees and the general tax paying public wanting change, I personally do not see the "patient" changing without being forced to -- why should they?  They enjoy positions of power and adulation, they enjoy controlling people, spinning the facts and figures to suit their needs, and they are rewarded handsomely for doing so. 

Someone asked in a comment to this blogsite, "Where does the pathway (to change) start"?  And my answer to that is the pathway to change starts with and within each and everyone of us.  When large numbers of employees are sick and tired of being sick and tired and they collectively stand up and say ENOUGH -- that is when change will happen.     

In Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point" he wrote about how there is one defining moment that makes something happen.  It can be the last straw, the largest number of protesters ever or something seemingly insignificant.  Tunisia's tipping point came on December 17, 2010, when a revolt was started as a result of a 20+ year old male food vendor who had his scale confiscated for supposedly not paying his fee.  He went to the office in charge of food vendors to complain -- they told him to pay his fee, which he had repeatedly paid again and again.  He was so frustrated and at his wits end, he bought gasoline and lit himself on fire in the middle of the street.   Others were so upset they took to the streets and months later overturned their despot leader. 

So the pathway to change begins with all of you -- from the bottom up.  There are great strengths in numbers -- and there are large numbers from the middle on down.  Individuals can be knocked off rather easily -- large numbers of workers cannot.  You are all a  force to be reckoned with.  So be the pathway -- be that change -- you will be amazed at what you can do!

#17 Why Is No One Held Accountable Anymore for Anything?

After celebrating our liberties and freedom this July 4th holiday, I ask myself are we really free?  Do we have the right to come forward and speak the truth?  Do we get rewarded for doing the right thing?  Do our institutions, which have a variety of checks and balances built within their structures, really work, or are they just another arm of some political party/opportunistic self-serving leader?

Workers and others have repeatedly attempted to "blow the whistle" in all ways possible.  The Governor's Office, various Boards and Commissions; various legislators and even the Bureau of State Audits -- all have been put on notice, but to no avail.  Those in positions of authority have done nothing.  Why is that?

The California National Guard saga has been going on for over ten years; others like CalPERS, State Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and most recently CalSTRS --  those did not just happen overnight -- and they are not the only ones. Kathy Carroll, a former CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing attorney, described her former workplace as a "private bureaucratic empire using public funds".  State institutions have become the personal fiefdoms of their leaders. The cronyism and self-dealing are destroying our state departments -- and it appears that no one cares. 

I found it illustrative in the same May 11, 2011, Sacramento Bee article regarding the Teacher Credentialing Commission wherein the Chairwoman Ting Sun stated", "I have never found blaming and shaming to be a constructive way of resolving problems".  Isn't that rich?  It is a perfect way of shifting blame onto the very people who are trying to hold her and her organization accountable.  I have news for you,  Ms. Chairwoman, since you accepted the job and get paid for doing it, you are responsible for your deeds and accountable for your actions/inactions.  Is this really such a novel thought; what did you think you were being paid to do? 

I think Andriana Huffington, in her post of July 29, 2011, hit upon the answer to my "why?" question.  She was discussing Greece and its financial problems (sound familiar?), when she posed a far more important question:  "Can a truly democratic movement break the stranglehold of corrupt elites and powerful anti-democratic institutional forces that have come to characterize not just the politics of Greece, but most Western democracies, including our own?"

Which brings me back to my other question  -- are we really free, and if so, for how long?

#16 Tribute to a Former Co-Worker

For past few days, I have been struggling to find the right approach to a topic that I wanted to write about.  Finally after many stops and starts, I decided what I really needed to write about was a former co-worker who recently passed away.  He showed me and others how to live a life worth living.   

With his passing, I and others acknowledged what knowing him had meant to us.  One who worked closely with him said "he was really something without ever telling anyone he was really something".  Another said that "his legacy would be the kindness that he showed to so many people".  I would agree with both of those sentiments, but he was so much more.   

Although he worked in a remote office hundreds of miles away from me, he managed to stay in touch.  He stayed in touch with others too -- talking about their ailing parents, as he too had older parents.  He was always funny; always was part of a his office's "lunch bunch" and added life and character to the workplace.  But more importantly, he lead by example.  He stood up for what he believed in.  He would not compromise himself or his division just to suit someone else.  He would carefully explain why he felt so passionately about what he did and why the integrity of his work product was so important to the greater whole.     

For over 20 years he headed up a division that hired numerous graduate student assistants.  The students would come for a year or two, get hands on practical experience and be mentored and tutored by someone who knew his business.   More importantly they worked for someone who also cared about them and their well being.  Upon his retirement several years ago, I was amazed at how many of his former students traveled far and wide just to honor him -- he meant that much to them.   I thought at the time that there was no greater tribute -- the idea that he had mentored and meant to much to so many just said it all to me.

He did not need a "core values" statement, he just was.   He was a man of integrity.  He was honest with himself and others, stood up for his values, treated  people fairly and with compassion, and cared about what he did.  He taught us so much, without even knowing it.  He was the real deal and we were all the lucky ones for having known him.

Good bye my friend, thank you for teaching me and others so much -- yours was indeed a life well lived.

#15 "Why Working Stiffs Feel Left Out"

A year ago New York Times writer, David Brooks, wrote an article titled "Why working stiffs feel left out".  He describes a hypothetical Ben, who has tried to do all the right things in his life.  He put himself through college; studied in a field  that led to a degree that could provide him a real job.  He graduated; got the job; worked his way up the ladder; and bought a modest house that he could afford.  He thought he was living an ethos that could be called "earned success".  Wasn't that supposed to be the American way?  Then things changed.   

I know of many employees who are just like Ben.  They got through their course work at college, started in entry level jobs and  slowly worked up the career ladder for ten, fifteen or twenty years honing their skills and gaining knowledge  in their chosen  fields of expertise.  They had an expectation that at some point they would be rewarded for all of their hard work, knowledge, skills and abilities.  They thought they had earned their "stripes" and were achieving their success the American way.  Then things changed. 

Instead, they were pushed aside.  Forced to find other careers, retire -- whatever, no one cared -- just be gone.  Other employees, some without any or very little experience -- certainly without the requisite knowledge and skills sets -- were given promotions.   These undeserved promotions were given  to opportunistic individuals who were willing to do whatever was expected of them without asking any questions or raising concerns -- in other words they were willing to go along to get along.  They have been rewarded for less than admirable behavior and achievements.  Is this " earned success" or is this the new American way?

I certainly hope not.  Is it is any wonder that our governmental institutions are not working well?  Misdeeds and wrong headed decisions are happening daily because most of current mid-level employees do not know enough to know they don't know.  Most of  the institutional knowledge left the buildings when long time workers who knew how to keep the wheels on the train, and who knew the moral, ethical and legal things to do, were replaced.  Just when we all needed them the most -- they are nowhere to be seen and are considered to be irrelevant.  Really? 

This is an injustice to not only those workers who had prepared themselves so well to take over leadership in departments, it is also an injustice to all of us taxpayers.  Is this really how we want  our own hard-earned money spent -- going to reward employees who do not now what what they are doing -- in order to please  narcissistic bosses who are busy decimating our governmental institutions?

Who will teach and train the younger workers coming into the work place?  Will they think that their supposedly "good looks and who they know," will propel them forward to a long, illustrious career?  Can our institutions last that long? 

If this is the new American way, we are all ultimately the losers for these expedient, but very bad decisions.  And is it any wonder that good,  honest "working stiffs" feel left out?  It is because they are!!!