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(image: exfordy/flickr)
Two excellent recent diaries, here and here and recent events and the responses and reactions to same have, for me, brought to heightened focus my years spent in the engineering department of a mid-sized manufacturing company. Various certifications from international quality monitoring organizations required that our Quality Manual, the document which governed our every function, not only be followed to the letter, but that we vigilantly and vigoursly worked to solve and prevent future occurrences of problems we encountered.
The ultimate goal was not to prevent defective product from entering the supply chain, but to prevent defective product from being created. A subtle but significant difference that for me, is analgous our current political situation. One of my functions was riding shotgun on the Technical Review Group. Our problem solving team.
Problem solving has 5 distinct components. Each critical to the success of the endeavor. They are;
♦ Containment; Don’t let it get any worse.
♦ Short Term Corrective Action; Fix what has happened.
♦ Root Cause Analysis; Why/how did this happen.
♦ Long Term Corrective Action; Insure it doesn’t happen again.
♦ Review; Did our fix work.
From this you can see that problem solving at its core requires passionless root cause analysis. It is not, and must not be, an exercise in blame laying. It is discovery pure and simple. Why did this happen. Ask why five (5) times and you arrive at the root cause of any problem. Only when the true cause of a failure is discovered can an effective corrective/preventive measure be designed and implemented to prevent further occurrences of the same failure.
The cold hard reality of life is that it can be, often, that we rarely actually get to the root cause analysis step of problem solving because the front end of the exercise, the ‘don’t let it get any worse’ part of the equation is at times so all encompassing and overwhelming that we fail to see the problem solving exercise through to the end.
The lesson learned from front-line participation in a hair-on-fire, no-holds-bared, take-no-prisoners, fix-it-now-godanmit problem solving group is that it was inevitably management’s failure. We, management, had failed to provide our workers with powerful/adequate enough tools/incentives to prevent unwanted outcomes.
All of this is a convoluted way of saying that We The People are the management group of the United Stated of America. We The People have failed to provide our workers, those we elect to represent our interests, with powerful/adequate enough tools/incentives to prevent unwanted outcomes. Yes, that includes our President and those he appointed, Members of Congress, Governors, State Reps, even school boards.
Our management obligation is oversight. We as citizens execute this oversight with our vote. It is up to us to rid ourselves of those elected officials that do not perform as desired. Low turnout, apathy, misinformation, the corrupting influence of vast sums of money and a main stream media owned and operated by that same corrupting money work together to undermine effective and desireable electoral results.
It is up to us to now fix what We have allowed to fester into an enormous problem. That being the fact that our interests are no longer being represented. Whether it be the excecution of American citizens without trial, banks before people, new nuclear power permits, private prisons, wars endless, or myriad issues to numerous to list it is We The People that have dropped the ball and allowed the naked highjacking of Our Government.
I have no ready-made, sure-to-fix-it, pat answers. I do know this however, the very first step is to deny all those fixated on laying blame a seat at the table. As you may have noticed above there is no part of problem solving that includes ‘who’s fault is it’. There are no solutions in laying blame, only further diversion and division. Those capable of the intellectual heavy lifting required to solve Our problems already know We are responsible.
It is, at the very least, time to dismiss the R and D divide and gather together those willing and able to look at what We are faced with and begin to collectively work toward true Corrective Action. How We go about this should be the conversation We start now.
53 Comments
Sorry for being wordy y’all. It was made as short as could be.
Excellent diary.
The top couple of paragraphs however, are showing up in teeny tiny print compared to the rest on my browser. (IE, uh don’t know which version of IE LOL).
Was this intentional? It seems to flow from the small print to the larger print as though they are all part of the same, but it “looks” a little strange, is all.
Anyway, like I said, excellent. I’m very guilty of this (pointing blame instead of offering solutions) and I can promise to work on improving that, but I’m so pissed at all things right wing sometimes it just feels good to call them out for being the right wing motherfuckers that they are.
Hope you’ll understand.
Recommended.
(Oh, and thanks for the props!)
My browser is Internet Explorer 9. LOL, had to hit the help button for it to tell me.
Thanks for the heads-up on the font problem. All appears normal here but….Any Mods out there that can take a look? Ellie? Suz?
Thanks OFG.
[Mod note - we fixed you up. :)]
All good now!
Cool pic!
Ha! The cool pic is the work of the amazing FDL backstage crew.
(thanks very much Mod)
Excellent diary and recommended. I’ve always said that comfortable people don’t start revolutions and society is a reflection of the people that make it up. It’s society’s first response to hide their heads from a problem but starting with OWS changing the conversation till the Limbaugh blowback starting to torch the rest of right wing hate radio, I see something of a shift to the left in the works. We must encourage that shift by dispassionately firing those politicians who are part of the problem and yep, the letter by their names are irrelevant. And when this pendulum swing becomes unstoppable, it will then be up to us to take it far enough to the left to legislate money out of politics and out of healthcare.
Thanks for stopping by.
Money in politics should be our first order of business followed closely by Health Care not medical insurance. We can no longer claim greatness while pricing over half of our population into poor health.
I’d add a living wage and more affordable higher education systems. Along with the elimination of student debt.
Spot on and in that order. Because there is no way money is going to come out of a cash cow as enormous as healthcare until it comes out of politics. Elected officials should also have to use the same healthcare system all the rest of us use. No more better care and no more head of the line privileges. Let their and their loved ones’ lives be affected in the by the decisions they make for the rest of us in the same ways our are affected. Nothing else will promote fairness in access. If they want great health care at a low cost, the rest of us are entitled to it too.
It really comes down to We The People marginalizing those who seek to promote themselves at the expense of the common good. No society is greater than its weakest, meakest citizen.
Dang. I really should proofread. I keep forgetting that MyFDL still doesn’t have an edit function.
You’re right. The US Government has built in image of untouchable and unshakeable power. As soon as enough citizens see that their power lies in our complacency we can start to make changes.
We’ve given the government the ability to operate our country and make all the day to day decisions, yet we have no system in place to hold individual bad actors accountable for bad actions. Your Senator suck? Too bad, wait 6 years. Your president suck? Wanna primary him? Too bad, it costs a cool half-billion.
Money out of politics is the first step. Campaigns should all be on the tax dollar, with donated media time (equal for each candidate). No private spending at all. Corporations, individuals, poor people like me, none of us should be able to use money to corrupt a democratic system. That’s placing a value on one vote above another, which is not democratic.
Not so funny how our “representatives” have exempted and isolated themselves from the realities of our existence, no? Of course they won’t do anything about health care because they are exempt. Social Security? Exempt. Why? Because we pay them ’till they die. They have no reason to solve the problems that affect We The People because they have legislated themselves exempt.
Which almost paradoxically makes them unfit to serve in the offices they hold.
Next step (to chase that wandering thought in paragraph two of my comment) is 2 year terms with 2 term limits for EVERYONE in the Congress (a body which needs to be greatly expanded).
No more lifetime pensions for Congress, either. That shit’s a joke.
Also too, I’d like to see some regulatory system in place to prevent former members of the government from ever re-entering the private sector to work for a company that was effected by legislation that former member voted on while in office.
I know that last one would be tough, and would potentially be unfair to the former member, but public service used to mean making a personal sacrifice, and it was an honor to do it. We need to get back to that.
Which is why I’m running for city council in Hutto, TX (if they’ll let me on the ballot…)
Agreed. Would only add that the current SOTUS has poured gasoline on the fire and I don’t think any of them capable of upholding the Constitution.
Ain’t that the truth…
Oh and great post Oldnslow – recc’d.
I think them all unfit. To the last man and woman.
Kris,
Strange you mention regulation. The fact is we need more not less. Unregulated capitolism devours itself through greed. The very thing we are seeing now.
Thanks Kelly! (deeply humbled)
‘here’ and ‘here’ links are not getting the referenced diaries by Gregg Levine and oldfatguy.
No No – very appealing to me. I was a subscription manager, essentially QA for customers, in telco for a loooong time, and these are exactly the sort of issues I’d try to bring up – RCAs to maintain subscribers, but NOOOO “let’s just bandaid the present problem.”
You really just want to say “STOP! We will now fix the machine!”
But it keeps running and you keep running alongside it, waving wrenches madly, trying screw in bolts on the fly…
You know.You just wrote it!
Bingo money out of politics nothing will change until we do that. Recommended and rec’d. Great diary OnS. :)
Then they should be made to choose an option: Retire from public service with dignity, stay n public service under very different terms or resist and be swept away and drowned by the tides of change.
Thanks. They were working when I posted. Will have a look.
(or Mods? Help?)
[Mod note - should be good now.]
Thanks man.
Getting money out of politics goes a long way to fixing our core problems. The monster that still needs to be addressed is Capitalism. The system inherently fosters greed and draws punitive lines between sections of the populace.
Look at all those Western European countries with their ‘socialist’ health care and their living wages. Those people look so damn miserable, don’t they? /s
Indeed!
(Kelly, you’re my hero)
(I swear to DAWG I don’t know how front pagers (lookin at you SoDrag) manage to navigate the nuances of our beloved FDL.)
Phoenix Woman has a great diary up that touches on this. Fundies are so blinded by hate and greed that they absolutely must be disqualified from the discussion. Despite what they think
They.
Are.
Not.
The.
Majority.
Nope, not even close.
Guiding the masses, eh oldnslow? Great questions and good perspective.
Recommended.
Keep inspiring us, you.
Coming from one who inspires me, that means more thatn you will ever know. Thank you.
Get out.
Well, oldnslow, this is an especially excellent diary.
The five steps of reasoned consideration.
No magical thinking, no supernatural appeals, instead, an honest and multifaceted appraisal of actual facts and the solutions necessary to successfully remedy failure.
Now, oldnslow, you are a most wise human being, and your words are never frivolous nor empty, and this diary is a delightfully powerful testament to your profound influence in and ON this community, so I’ve the same request of you that I’ve made of OldFatGuy, which is; whenever you find yourself so moved, that you shall share more of your eloquent understanding and your brilliantly centered and grounded insights with the rest of us in this diary form.
Recommended with absolute pleasure and the certainty of this diary’s transcendental worth and value to this moment and all of humankind’s future … this is wisdom speaking, fellow denizens … clearly, effectively, a substantial portion of essential human truth. For dilemmas remain dilemmas only if human beings close their eyes, their minds, and their hearts … to the truth and comprehensive understanding.
Superbly well done, oldnslow, thank you for demonstrating, gently and compassionately, what true leadership is all about.
DW
I don’t always comment,OnS, except for here and there – bit intimidated by all the brainiacs floating around at this site (there is no snark in that comment, btw, I am being sincere. This site hosts some of the most astute analysis of the goings on that I have encountered). That being said, wouldn’t “getting the money out of politics” be a long term correction, that would also ensure that we don’t have a repeat of the problem? And if so, how do we even get to the “containment” phase? Because from my seat in the theater of the absurd, we are “containing” little with regard to the fall out of the root cause.
I really enjoyed reading your post, OldnSlow, as well as the comments it generated. Thanks for putting up.
DW,
On my very best days I aspire to mediocrity. Your kind words and encouragement mean a great deal. Thank you.
Thank you walkinboots. We have indeed yet to get to the contianment part. Perhaps a fundamental shift in the national discourse is the first step. I am not one of the intellectual heavy lifters mentioned in the post so all I can do is support those who step forward. If I find them.
The first step in shifting the national discourse is growing through the Occupy Movement.
Fair media coverage is key. If we can get a bit of that our cause will begin to snowball.
I’m with you. I have no idea what the answer is; how we get there but I’m pretty clear on what it is not. I think the change in the conversation is a first step but I believe that a shift to the left is inevitable but I’m not sure of the vehicle for that shift. Might even be this current attack on women’s reproductive rights.
Thank you for the thought-provoking framework for problem-solving. As an exercise I’m trying to map it to OWS as it has evolved to date.
The multiplicity of Occupies, the fact that they’ve identified and started connecting the many, many “dots” in our financial, economic, and social problems, the horizontal structure, and their outreach to local community and issue-oriented groups give the movement the agility needed for steps 1 (containment) and 2 (corrective action). They have some ability even now for some rapid-response (protests of Congressional actions, primaries/caucuses, foreclosure/eviction, school closings, local labor issues) and have had some local successes.
Seems like they recognized early on the need to get started on step 3 (root cause analysis) with libraries, teach-ins, specialized working groups. The evictions have taken a toll, but I think that work continues. The GA process will be a good vehicle for step 5 (review).
But oh, that step 4 ! I’m hopeful the linking up of Occupie will result in some next steps and strategies. Personally, I’m not comfortable with money out of politics as a first step, see it more as needing to be concurrent with other steps, but haven’t thought that through, so that’s another discussion. These are just some thoughts about OWS as a problem solving framework.
As Kris points out @40 the Occupy Movement may indeed provide the vehicle for beginning our resolution proccess. I do know Occupy has a great deal of support in this community.
Thank you for jumping in.
Step 4: Long Term Corrective Action; Insure it doesn’t happen again.
When we get to this step (easy to say, hard to do!) I think it is critical that we never again allow the obscene disparity of wealth that we have today.
Great diary, oldnslow. When you are in unfamiliar territory it’s not likely that you can get from the starting point to the destination without a roadmap of some sort. Your problem solving sequence can provide some much needed landmarks.
Man, I just can’t stop reading this one and it’s comments. There is actually, sooo sooo much good in here. Between this diary, and the comments to it, and, well, just looking around lately, I can almost, almost mind you, really feel like there is real hope to be had. For that alone, it would be impossible to thank you enough for.
But this:
Is so well said, and then you read resonses like this:
and this:
and this:
and this:
and this:
All show how well many, many folks really do “get it.” With respect to this last quote especially, I agree wholeheartedly. Getting money out of politics really is absolutely necessary. Without that, many other changes would be prevented. But first, IMO, first, we have to have that conversation Oldnslow described, to get those that are governed, by whatever system, to understand their responsibility in managing that government and holding it accountable. Because if we simply passed a law that removed money out of politics today, it would return tomorrow if we don’t hold those who serve us accountable.
Sorry for another long winded post, but this post, and it’s responses, to me, show what some may believe has been missing a very long time: hope.
Even though I fail the message often, I want to repeat a simple yet critical message from another one here who gets who, and who have the utmost respect for: SD.
Never. Give. Up.
I submit that if we each, just ourselves, try and take accountability serious, and hold those we elect accountable even when it’s inconvenient (such as when doing so makes you believe you’ll end up with an even bigger jackass), and we work on spreading the message, that these may be the most important long term efforts we, as citizens and humans, can take.
I mean, really, just imagine a world where the every politician, at every level, is held accountable for their actions. When I do that, I see a world where problems like too much money in politics, global warming, human rights, health care and education, all issues, instead of being demagogued on and left untreated, are taken seriously and addressed. Because not to is just too uncomforatable for them.
Thanks again oldnslow. Hugely important and well written diary and discussion. And thanks to all, for this one old fat guy feels something stirring in him he hasn’t for some time: hope.
That seems to happen, here.
Outstanding column, oldnslow. Outstanding.
Rec’d.
Thanks bro.
We The People are neither “the management group” of the United States of America in principle or in practice. And never accept responsibility for what you have no authority over.
We the People are accountable to we, the people, now that the United States of America is accountable to something else. It used to be that the world did not hold us accountable for the USA but that’s coming to an end. The USA must be held to it’s account with all we, the people.
I’m concerned about the increasingly strident calls to stay home or vote Republican on election to “send a message to the Democrats”, a message they failed to get in 2010 when I warned against employing the same strategy. Did the Democrats get the intended message? Have things gotten much, much worse? The answers in order are no and of course yes. As problem solvers, there is a need to recognize when the solution that has been tried doesn’t work, rather than employing it over and over and insisting it didn’t work the first time because of some failure in the people employing it. That’s worse than doing nothing in my opinion.
Agreed.
Doing “nothing” is better than doing “something”… if that “something” is the wrong thing … especially if it is done … time after time.
Does that not apply, equally, to voting for the “lesser evil” as well? is it not precisely the same outcome which is incurred?
Has voting for the “lesser evil” gotten through the “intended message”…. or have “….things gotten much, much worse?”
No, to the first part, presumably and yes, again for a fact, the same “fact”, to the second.
Have both “solutions” contributed to precisely the same “outcome”?
Margaret, I note that you have not included two rather important things; First, you did not mention voting for alternatives, and second you did not mention the importance of “down ticket” voting.
I assume these omissions were, one, deliberate, as you have not indicated that voting for alternatives is bad or wrong or contributes to the unhappy outcomes we both have observed, and, two, I further assume that you expect the rest of us to infer the importance of the “down ticket” vote.
If I have read you amiss, then, by all means, make clear my error(s).
As a further consideration, do you imagine or believe that we, “the people” may be able to “vote” our way out of the revolting development(s) which we now face; from the intentional destruction of the Rule of Law, including HR 347, and the appropriated Presidential “power” to assassinate anyone on the “everywhere battlefield”, to the too likely possibility that this nation will be misled into a war with Iran?
DW
I guess my concern is this, Margaret; it is one thing to point out the failures of what “means” others have tried, and by such “measures” as are available, have failed to have obtained or secured the objective of those endeavors or strategies, while it is quite another to offer practical measures which might actually avail … which might actually succeed.
DW