Tuesday, March 6, 2012

If it ain't broke...

But, who gets to decide whether or not it's "broke"?


I recently attended a conference relevant to my “day job”.  Industry experts alternately railed against and laughed at governmental suggestions to repair the failings in both the system and the industry that had been created to serve the societal goals of that system.

The common thread that ran through the criticisms could by summarized by saying “within the current framework, the changes being suggested are at best, silly wastes of time and at worst laden with unintended consequences that will actually reverse the societal mission of the system."

In most cases, I would say that they were probably right.  The part that was missing critical reflection was the “within the current framework” part of the statement.

Maybe tweaking the framework is good to keep us all employed in whatever field we’re in, but before considering or implementing “tweaks” it is the mandate of leaders to ensure that the framework upon which the societal goals rely continues to achieve its societal goals.  Absent this, leadership is merely an accomplice in a scheme to protect the status quo under the guise of appearing to guide effective change. 

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