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My side of the line
Responsibility gap
By Rebecca JamesCourie
Editor-in-Chief
About a week ago, Ira Jackson, dean of the Drucker School of Management, spoke to more than 100 chamber members from Upland, Montclair and Claremont. The DoubleTree served a great lunch and we all sat back contently feasting on our decadent desserts certainly not expecting to receive a slice of reality that almost made us drop our forks.
When Dr. Jackson first came to Claremont a couple of years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing him when I was a reporter for the COURIER. So, I was ready for his fun banter and great stories. What I wasn’t ready for was the stark statistics that really puts responsibility right at our doorsteps.
Dr. Jackson spoke about the need to fill the “responsibility gap.” This gap starts with effective management and ethical leadership – these are missing ingredients necessary to become a responsible society. He said that management involves being morally concerned – not just concerned about making money.
The audience drew a collective gasp when Dr. Jackson shared these disconcerting statistics:
$1 trillion bribes are exchanged worldwide;
2000 websites for Katrina were fraudulent;
56 percent of graduate business students admitted to cheating;
2.2 million households will be foreclosed on;
14 lending companies are under investigation by the FBI;
“Pigs gorging at the trough are always a disgusting sight,” is a quote from Peter Drucker and one that certainly exemplifies the above stats.
Dr. Jackson went on to say that the average CEO earns in 4 hours what the average employee earns in one year. That is why it is so important to ensure the integrity of our institutions. Managers must be stewards of the assets given and leave the company better than when they found it. In the working place 37 percent of the American worker’s time is wasted and three-quarters of this time is a result of poor planning and management.
Poor management has had a heavy toll on us already. More than $9 billion spent on the Iraq reconstruction is unaccounted for because of bad management. Over 50 percent of cancers could be prevented if we acted upon what we already know about what causes them. We already have delivery systems in place to get food to starving children, and yet 24,000 children die annually because of malnutrition and hunger. What is wrong with this picture?
Before you get ready to throw in the towel and scream, “We’re doomed!” know that the answer is poignantly clear. It’s up to us. The secret lies with us. Some good ol’ fashioned soul searching will plug you into the role you can play to make change happen.
Dr. Jackson came up with 4 ways we can make change:
1. Primum non nocere – Above all, do no harm. Re-think your motives and clarify the outcome.
2. Management is a liberal art filled with philosophy and psychology. Remember that people are the assets of your company.
3. Above all, we need effectiveness. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to make change. New ideas are not always better, but the better execution of ideas we already have will make us efficient.
4. Organizations are the building blocks of society, so we need responsible government, responsible businesses and responsible nonprofits.
Dr. Jackson spoke about a group of teens who were tired of street gangs. So, they decided to create a new gang, a “Gang for Peace” and be a visible alternative. These teens already know the secret.
What can you do? What talents do you have to share? You don’t have to change the world all at once, but you can change your little corner of it. Can you imagine the possibilities? If everyone changed their little corner of the world, we’d start a global movement toward change.
The Navajos say, “We don’t inherit land from our parents, we borrow it from our children.” Let’s leave it better than we found it. Let’s make that change.
