Change Agenda, Obama Change, Change We Can Believe in, State Of The Union Address, Change Process
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Tuesday January 26, 2010
Today's Zinger:
Change Is A Process, Not An Event
The Morning Briefing:
President Obama has secured office on the notion of change. His slogan, “Change You Can Believe In” swept a large portion of the electorate into a new way of thinking. But President Obama and his Administration is comprised of people that think about change, but quite frankly have little experience in creating, managing and sustaining change.
Don’t get me wrong; they are very smart people that have spent much of their careers in politics or academia where life is all about ideas and programs. But when we talk about change at the scale the President is trying to accomplish, it is not a project, it is a complex system. In order to change that system requires more than a good idea and smart speeches. It also requires more than a large personality to get people to stay with the system when it encounters trouble.
Zinger looks at the Obama Administration's process for change and why the Obama Administration has failed to gain traction on every single change program that they have undertaken.
Who Said It?
"Change Is A Motivator, But Change Has Its Enemies"
The Morning Briefing:
I spent much of my career creating and sustaining major change within organizations and corporations. Change is a process and not an event. There are a couple of key lessons that we learned to be successful:
Since we are still in the takeoff mode of much of the Administration’s change agenda (one year later) I will only address the first stage of the change process. The Administration is trying to change too much too fast and not engaging all those that need to be a part of the change and ultimately own the change after takeoff. You don’t leave half of the electorate out of the process because they voted for someone else. They will ultimately get their revenge either by throwing themselves in front of the plane at takeoff, shouting we’re going to crash to the other passengers, or worse. Bobby Kennedy once said, “Change has its enemies”.
Secondly, the Administration has placed too much focus on softening the blow of the current recession and not enough on building jobs and businesses. Bailouts for the banks and auto companies, bailouts for homeowners, unemployment extensions for over a year now, health care for the uninsured, food programs, rental assistance, and the list goes on.
I am not a cold, heartless person, but as an economist I know that the longer we keep people safe and comfortable the less the chance they will take on the change they need. Didn’t we learn this lesson during the real Great Depression? The government intervened in the free market processes trying to prop up the system for too long. What occurred were ten years of very high unemployment (20%), little investment and an economy that was only saved by World War II.
Of course there are times when able-bodied people need help. But, when that help continues for extended periods, either the person receiving the help is doing something wrong or the government is doing something wrong, like subsidizing a broken system.
The United States has a long list of critical needs that require real change. Social Security and Medicare are almost bankrupt. Health Care has become an ever increasing drain on our wealth, immigration is unchecked, the war on terror is escalating and Congress has done little to change the dynamics of the financial system that helped drive us into this economic mess. We need the Administration to be successful, but first they need to take a few lessons from other organizations that have had to go through major change. Until they do, we will hear more wonderful speeches, more aborted takeoffs, or even worse, we may find ourselves up in the air with little hope of sustaining flight.
The Conclusion:
The President is about to address the nation regarding The State Of The Union. I am sure that there will be wonderful words. What we should all listen for is a focus on engaging the broader stakeholders, looking for short-term wins, spreading ownership of major initiatives to a broader group and focusing on initiatives that creates jobs (that means supporting those groups that actually hire people: i.e. businesses). It is also important that the government avoid the temptation to appeal for votes by paying for jobs or to sustain unemployment or other parts of a broken system.
Who Said It?
"Change Is A Motivator, But Change Has Its Enemies"
Robert (Bobby) Kennedy
Supreme Court Rules On Corporate Political Advertising
A Republican In A Democrat's Seat. Brown In Kennedy's Seat.
How Parenting Style Shows Up In International Politics. Non-Verbal Communications.
The Role Of Government: Provider or Enabler?
The Corruption Of Health Care Legislation
Inflation Is Coming, Inflation is Coming. Inflation And The Deficit
The Administrations Decision Process For Afghanistan
President Obama's Job Fair and Search for Jobs
President Obama's Afghanistan Strategy and Speech
The Environmental Impact of Hybrid and Battery Powered Automobiles
Geithner, Stimulus, Health Care for Troops and more
Torture, Rendition and Iran's Nuclear Ambition
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately? Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article.Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
Write To Us:
You can comment on any article by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of each article or you can write to us at ZK@ZingerKing.com
Tuesday January 26, 2010
Today's Zinger:
Change Is A Process, Not An Event
The Morning Briefing:
President Obama has secured office on the notion of change. His slogan, “Change You Can Believe In” swept a large portion of the electorate into a new way of thinking. But President Obama and his Administration is comprised of people that think about change, but quite frankly have little experience in creating, managing and sustaining change.
Don’t get me wrong; they are very smart people that have spent much of their careers in politics or academia where life is all about ideas and programs. But when we talk about change at the scale the President is trying to accomplish, it is not a project, it is a complex system. In order to change that system requires more than a good idea and smart speeches. It also requires more than a large personality to get people to stay with the system when it encounters trouble.
Zinger looks at the Obama Administration's process for change and why the Obama Administration has failed to gain traction on every single change program that they have undertaken.
Who Said It?
"Change Is A Motivator, But Change Has Its Enemies"
The Morning Briefing:
I spent much of my career creating and sustaining major change within organizations and corporations. Change is a process and not an event. There are a couple of key lessons that we learned to be successful:
- There has to be a well understood and broadly agreed to reason for the change and the change must be because things are currently so bad and uncomfortable that we just can’t stay where we are or things are just so, so, so good in a new direction that we all want to be a part of it. (Did I mention that it must be really good, because it is easier to get people to leave a threat than go to an opportunity).
- You need some short-term wins along the way to bigger change. Don’t try to implement everything in one fell swoop. It is too complex, confusing and attacks every stakeholder or special interest at the same time, and there are more of them than you. Short-term wins also allow you to test your assumptions so you don’t end up on the Titanic.
- Unless you are a dictator, you must get the vast majority to understand the reason for the change and want to be a part of it. Once the change process starts there must be sufficient momentum (as in not by the making speeches and trying to excite the people) to sustain the change.
- There are three critical periods in any major change program and each requires a different form of management. It is much like flying a plane. The key areas of risk (read that as the potential to crash and burn) are takeoff, sustaining the flight and landing. Clearly, takeoff and landing are much more difficult and require a different set of skills than sustaining the flight.
Since we are still in the takeoff mode of much of the Administration’s change agenda (one year later) I will only address the first stage of the change process. The Administration is trying to change too much too fast and not engaging all those that need to be a part of the change and ultimately own the change after takeoff. You don’t leave half of the electorate out of the process because they voted for someone else. They will ultimately get their revenge either by throwing themselves in front of the plane at takeoff, shouting we’re going to crash to the other passengers, or worse. Bobby Kennedy once said, “Change has its enemies”.
Secondly, the Administration has placed too much focus on softening the blow of the current recession and not enough on building jobs and businesses. Bailouts for the banks and auto companies, bailouts for homeowners, unemployment extensions for over a year now, health care for the uninsured, food programs, rental assistance, and the list goes on.
I am not a cold, heartless person, but as an economist I know that the longer we keep people safe and comfortable the less the chance they will take on the change they need. Didn’t we learn this lesson during the real Great Depression? The government intervened in the free market processes trying to prop up the system for too long. What occurred were ten years of very high unemployment (20%), little investment and an economy that was only saved by World War II.
Of course there are times when able-bodied people need help. But, when that help continues for extended periods, either the person receiving the help is doing something wrong or the government is doing something wrong, like subsidizing a broken system.
The United States has a long list of critical needs that require real change. Social Security and Medicare are almost bankrupt. Health Care has become an ever increasing drain on our wealth, immigration is unchecked, the war on terror is escalating and Congress has done little to change the dynamics of the financial system that helped drive us into this economic mess. We need the Administration to be successful, but first they need to take a few lessons from other organizations that have had to go through major change. Until they do, we will hear more wonderful speeches, more aborted takeoffs, or even worse, we may find ourselves up in the air with little hope of sustaining flight.
The Conclusion:
The President is about to address the nation regarding The State Of The Union. I am sure that there will be wonderful words. What we should all listen for is a focus on engaging the broader stakeholders, looking for short-term wins, spreading ownership of major initiatives to a broader group and focusing on initiatives that creates jobs (that means supporting those groups that actually hire people: i.e. businesses). It is also important that the government avoid the temptation to appeal for votes by paying for jobs or to sustain unemployment or other parts of a broken system.
Who Said It?
"Change Is A Motivator, But Change Has Its Enemies"
Robert (Bobby) Kennedy
Today's ZingerToon:
Recent ZingerKing Articles:
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can be found in the archives that are stored by month. These are found
at the bottom of the purple sidebar as well. Here is a list of the most recent
articles.
Supreme Court Rules On Corporate Political Advertising
A Republican In A Democrat's Seat. Brown In Kennedy's Seat.
How Parenting Style Shows Up In International Politics. Non-Verbal Communications.
The Role Of Government: Provider or Enabler?
The Corruption Of Health Care Legislation
Inflation Is Coming, Inflation is Coming. Inflation And The Deficit
The Administrations Decision Process For Afghanistan
President Obama's Job Fair and Search for Jobs
President Obama's Afghanistan Strategy and Speech
The Environmental Impact of Hybrid and Battery Powered Automobiles
Geithner, Stimulus, Health Care for Troops and more
Torture, Rendition and Iran's Nuclear Ambition
Shameless Request For Support:
ZingerKing operates without advertising or government funding (obviously). The purpose is to inform and educate its readers about economic and political issues that affect our lives.
Help ZingerKing grow. Have you Zinged someone lately? Please forward a link to ZingerKing to a friend, family member or neighbor. If you enjoy reading the Zinger please subscribe (see the subscribe box at the top of the article in the purple side band). Subscribers receive the"Morning Briefing" when published with a link to the full article.Periodic alerts are sent to subscribers only with important updates and insights into critical issues. Your email address will not sold to others and will not be shared.
Write To Us:
You can comment on any article by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of each article or you can write to us at ZK@ZingerKing.com
Posted by ZK at 1/26/2010 1:16 PM 
Categories: Politics, Obama Administration, Economics, Health Care, Change, Social issues, Special Interest Groups, Caretaker Government, Leadership
Tags: Politics Obama Administration Economics Health Care Change Social issues Special Interest Groups Caretaker Government Leadership
Categories: Politics, Obama Administration, Economics, Health Care, Change, Social issues, Special Interest Groups, Caretaker Government, Leadership
Tags: Politics Obama Administration Economics Health Care Change Social issues Special Interest Groups Caretaker Government Leadership
Terrific article and very insightful. The Administration acts like they can force the change on people and want to blame those that disagree with them. What they should be saying is what are we doing wrong (as in the administration). They should have expected people to work against them, or as you say throw themselves in front of the plane and scream we're going to crash.
I know that in business, when things aren't going well, management wants to blame those around them for not getting it done. Sooner or later everyone begins to realize that it is management that is not doing the right work.
I think the election of Scott Brown was the way voters said to the administration, "you are not doing the right work".
Keep up the great articles.
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