Barley Literate

Lake Wobegon at Veterans Affairs

The Revolutionary War didn't end at Yorktown

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Lake Wobegon at Veterans Affairs

A while back the New York Times revealed that every one of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 470 senior executives had been rated “outstanding” or “fully successful” at least once in the last four years, and most of them got one of these top two ratings in multiple years.

In a one-year period almost 80% of the VA’s senior execs were rated “outstanding” or “fully successful.” About two-thirds of them got bonuses.

Over four years, none of the senior VA honchos received either of the lowest two performance ratings—not one of them, not once.

It's a miracle. Seems every one of them is above average....

This report says as much about a big organization like the VA as it says about the egregious failure of darn near everyone everywhere to implement a performance evaluation system that actually evaluates widely varying performance, instead of simply forcing supervisors to complete the hated chore of doing a once-a-year gloss of their subordinates' work performance that disguises the identity of all the poor performers.

This report also is another stupefying example of top executives being allowed to claim that "bonuses are vital to hiring and retention" without having to prove it. Of course, that claim can't be proved, because it's not true.

No bonus plan has ever been shown to materially improve discriminating selection of "the best candidates" or "retention of the high performers."

You know, it's the old "every Little Leaguer gets a trophy" mindset....

RichardSubber.com

The Revolutionary War didn't end at Yorktown

Are you a great manager?

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Are you a great manager?

This started out as another one of those "Top 10 Ideas For...." but I whittled it down to three, for your delectation.

This was distributed by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), see their website here, and originally appeared on Edutopia as "Ten Big Ideas of School Leadership" by middle school principal Mike McCarthy.

I'm pretty sure Mike is pretty much on track, and his take on leadership is motivational and instructive for leaders or wannabe leaders in any organization. A few samples:

6) Take Responsibility for the Good and the Bad
If the problems in your school or organization lie below you and the solutions lie above you, then you have rendered yourself irrelevant. The genius of school lies within the school. The solutions to problems are almost always right in front of you.

I think of it this way: If you think only the folks below you are causing all the problems, and you also think only the guys above you can fix ‘em, what does the boss or your subordinates need you for?

7) You Have the Ultimate Responsibility
Have very clear expectations. Make sure people have the knowledge, resources, and time to accomplish what you expect. This shows respect. As much as possible, give people the autonomy to manage their own work, budget, time, and curriculum. Autonomy is the goal, though you still have to inspect.

I think of it this way: Be the boss, mostly by setting the tone, setting the example, sometimes setting the boundaries, setting the aiming stake in the right place, setting the time for the next team meeting, setting the “But We’ve Always Done It This Way” rule book on fire, etc………..and every so often check to make sure that nobody has set the factory on fire….

9) Consensus is Overrated
Twenty percent of people will be against anything. When you realize this, you avoid compromising what really should be done because you stop watering things down. If you always try to reach consensus, you are being led by the 20 percent.

I've found that most students--and most folks--usually think that “consensus” means that everyone has to agree. No, no, no. I embrace the idea that “consensus” means that every member of the group either stout-heartedly endorses the idea or at least acknowledges that she can live with it and support it as a reasonable alternative to her own favored decision/plan/concept. And yes, it’s true that sometimes the group or the boss must say to the high-principled or defiant holdout: “we respect your view and your input, but we’ve talked it through, we’re gonna do it a different way, and you need to support that.”

Reading in the rubble

Finches everywhere

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Reading in the rubble

Wars destroy bookstores, too, but human spirit can survive

American elections aren't rigged

Finches everywhere

"Pants on fire!"

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

“Pants on fire!”….

Just so we keep things in perspective:

We don’t even have to remind ourselves that Trump tells a lie more or less every five minutes while he’s talking….

David Leonhardt of the New York Times reminds us that “Remarkably, every Republican presidential candidate this year was untruthful more often than every Democratic candidate, according to the watchdog PolitiFact (which was trying so hard to be neutral that it didn’t point out the pattern!).”

Of course Hillary and Tim have stretched the literal truth more than once. I wish it weren’t so.

Leonhardt’s point is that the Republican candidates have defined themselves by telling lies, again and again.

Promise yourself that you’re telling the truth when you say “I’m going to vote on November 8.”

Better than releasing Trump's tax returns

Another legal way to stop Trump

Don't vote for Johnson or Stein "to make a statement"

"Kabuki citizenship" isn't the worst of it....

Friday, September 23, 2016

Another legal way to stop Trump

Count on Garrison Keillor (the Lake Wobegon guy) to bring a fresh perspective to the current dangerous corruption of our political process. At WashingtonPost.com, he wrote:

“A week ago, a panhandler in Times Square sat holding a sign reading, ‘Give me a dollar or I’ll vote for Trump,’ and people laughed and reached into their pockets. His bucket overflowed.”

Keep a few singles in your pocket in case you walk past that guy or someone he’s talked to.

Don't vote for Johnson or Stein "to make a statement"

"Kabuki citizenship" isn't the worst of it....

Pricetag on bigotry

A long moment at the Wailing Wall

Let's put one more thing in context....

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Pricetag on bigotry

What does bigotry cost? Well, for starters, in North Carolina, it costs more than $200 million.

You remember this: the Republican-dominated legislature in North Carolina passed H.B.2 earlier this year, to prevent transgender people from using the public bathroom of their choice.

So far, that hateful act has cost the state and its business community and its citizens hundreds of jobs and more than $200 million in taxes and business revenues.

Why? One high-profile answer is: the NCAA canceled seven big sports events—including the NBA All Star game—that were scheduled in North Carolina this year. Another answer: Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert. Other businesses, organizations and musicians canceled performances, conventions and building projects.

Bigotry hurts. In many ways.

p.s. Really stupid bigotry hurts just as much as the other kind. This bathroom law was always unenforceable—no one ever thought the police would order sports fans in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte to drop their pants for inspection before using the toilet.

A long moment at the Wailing Wall

Don't vote for Johnson or Stein "to make a statement"

Let's put one more thing in context....

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

A long moment at the Wailing Wall....

In Jerusalem, a prayer for the sins of the world….

The bone thing....

"What's for dinner, Mom?"

When the next step is a jump....

Arms around the world....

Let's put one more thing in context....