The keywords of the 2008 US Presidential Elections are “change” and “experience”
As a moderately-liberal American, I had only passing interest, in the US presidential campaign, since it seemed to be politics as usual. However, my interest has been aroused by two happenings:
- The focus and claims of both parties and the media on “change” and “experience”
- The nomination of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, as the Republican Vice President Candidate
My main interest is the business management aspects of government as related to my career as a change management consultant and the development of Result-performance Management (R-pM) to define how any business and government should be organized and managed.
Change and experience are oxymorons. Experience is the greatest obstacle to change
Both political parties have positioned themselves as agents of change. Both have made arguments that their experience is the biggest qualification for office and the biggest qualification for making change. In my years of trying to effect government and business change, and in my current efforts with R-pM, I find the greatest obstacle to “change” is “experience”. The vast majority of managers and legislators have experience following ingrained methods and basing decisions on the way things have always been done. Few managers and legislators actually initiate and manage the difficult change that is necessary for real beneficial progress in a corporation or government.
The experience needed is proven experience in initiating and managing change
It is easy to talk of change and promise change, but very difficult to overcome all the obstacles and effect real beneficial change. If a candidate espouses change based on experience, their experience should show clear instances of initiating and managing real and difficult change that produced proven benefit. If the experienced candidate does not show this experience, it is highly unlikely the candidate will initiate and manage real change in the future. When managing corporate and government change, I tried to identify the very few exceptional managers or staff who were supportive of the change, were willing to take risks and push good points of view, and possessed analytical capabilities, management skills, and good judgment. To make progress, the most experienced managers had to be convinced to let change proceed and to learn and utilize the changes.
Senator McCain has taken over the change banner
Through the campaign and the Democratic Party Convention, I assumed that the Democrats would coast to victory, since they were not burdened by a legacy and were receiving favorable media coverage. I did feel that Senator John McCain was the best candidate, since I admired his maverick stance on many issues and refusal to participate in wasteful practices. Then Senator McCain introduced Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his pick for Vice President. Govenor Palin is being attacked for her lack of “experience”. Here again experience is an easy word to say, but the experience must be evaluated.
The Democrat meaning of change seems to be the switch from Republican politics as usual, to Democrat politics as usual. The Republicans defined change as changing all politics as usual to reduce government waste and the influence of vested interests.
Governor Palin is the first candidate to run on management capabilities and accomplishments, rather than years of experience
For the first time in my life, a candidate is running, not on years of experience, but on human and management capabilities and results accomplished. This is the way all candidates should run. Their capabilities should be assessed and results accomplished should be evaluated. My initial impression is that Governor Palin is a fast learner and an effective manager. I believe her when she says she is willing to make change, even though her examples tend to be undesirable change stopped. Demonstrating capability as an executive and decision-maker is much more important than years of experience doing the same things over and over again. My concern with a Vice President Palin is not that she would be unqualified, should something happen to President McCain, but that she would not keep her promise to work for the majority of all Americans, when decisions required conflict with her positions on environment and wildlife protection, gun control, education, personal freedoms, energy exploitation, etc that make her popular in Alaska.
Government management and decision-making is the same as any other business
Government at all levels is a business in “investments in capital as solutions of worth utilized for costs and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results”. Government leaders must make decisions on results to accomplish, the money and capital expenditures to invest or appropriate, and the performance needed to utilize the capital effectively to produce the results. Governor Palin showed appreciation for the result value that must be produced over time to justify such investments as the governor’s personal jet or the “bridge to nowhere”.
Governments, as well as corporations, benefit from using R-pM to organize the business for 21st Century Management to ensure that all government investments are utilized in performance properly to produce beneficial results for the population, who are the shareholders and customers of the government.
