Tailgunners

Tail Gunners

FTLComm - Tisdale - March 14, 2001

incompetence
Professor Lawrence Peters wrote a book about the dynamics of what happens to an individual in an organisation, the book, "The Peter Principle" chronicles the problem in all organisations and that is that all people rise to the level of their incompetence where they remain for the rest of their career.

bureaucrat
You must admit that that is a depressing scenario when you consider that most of the corporations and government operations are all being run by people who are incompetent. Like Professor Peters I too spent most of my life as a bureaucrat, a school principle and during those nearly thirty years of experience a number of important if not unsettling conditions become apparent.

goals
Few of us would launch into a career that we were intending to spend our life in without thinking through what a person can accomplish, what goals can be achieved and for those of us in education, there is a dedication to doing good and helping others. The first few minutes in power clearly bring every administrator to a shocking reality. There is little you can do about anything, if you intend to keep doing.

responsibilities
As a young principal with a baby at home and a wife who depended upon me for earning a living and supporting us you have to be completely clear about what you are doing. Albeit your ultimate goal to help the world to be a better place and make decisions that are just, fair and positive you have responsibilities not just for your self but for you child's future and the security of your partner.

successful
It is interesting to note that after my first principal's meeting I discovered that my fellow administrators did not all share my worries about doing the right thing and holding on to my job. Their age, experience or background made the decision making process pretty simple, "look after number one." These remarkable individuals are the stuff that successful administrators are made of. They can clearly see in every issue the solution that will cover their ass and treating superior asses appropriately is part of that process.

Survival
Administration is not a place for idealists, of any kind, people with principles are destine to drag themselves through a lot of hardship and will get to move a lot. Long before I became an administrator a good and wise teacher on staff with me in Estevan once explained the world to me. He had figured it out and spotted from his vantage point that doing the right thing is rarely if ever the right thing for you. Survival in an organisation depends on have the intensity and spinal dexterity of a tail gunner.

three years
The tail gunner makes no bones whatever about his or her task in life, it is to keep their eyes and instincts focused on what is behind them and make no moves forward that might expose oneself to danger of any kind. The remarkable thing is that this process is not fun but it is successful, in fact almost all principals, directors of education and bosses of any kind are experts in this method of operation if they have held their present job for more than three years.

own best
interest
This means to us as individuals in society that most government and bureaucratic organisations are not only run by people who are incompetent but they are also almost always going to act in their own best interest. Decision making based on education, values and the ultimate good, is not and can not be a factor in successful administration.

trouble
maker
What surprised me is that the virtue of "not being a trouble maker" is just as prevalent in church hierarchies as it is in business and public service. A "successful" member of the clergy is one who is a tail gunner. This is also true of medical practitioners in a hospital or office setting and especially true of lawyers in a law firm. Where ever people work together the Peter Principle and the tail gunner effect are present and the determining factor in advancement and survival in the role.

For those smug folks in private business there are no branches of business where these two principles are not in affect. From store clerks to management those who show initiative, creativity and boldness are destine to be encouraged to seek an employment path working somewhere else.

Tail Gunners

FTLComm - Tisdale - March 14, 2001

incompetence	Professor Lawrence Peters wrote a book about the dynamics of what happens to an individual in an organisation, the book, "The Peter Principle" chronicles the problem in all organisations and that is that all people rise to the level of their incompetence where they remain for the rest of their career.

bureaucrat	You must admit that that is a depressing scenario when you consider that most of the corporations and government operations are all being run by people who are incompetent. Like Professor Peters I too spent most of my life as a bureaucrat, a school principle and during those nearly thirty years of experience a number of important if not unsettling conditions become apparent.

goals	Few of us would launch into a career that we were intending to spend our life in without thinking through what a person can accomplish, what goals can be achieved and for those of us in education, there is a dedication to doing good and helping others. The first few minutes in power clearly bring every administrator to a shocking reality. There is little you can do about anything, if you intend to keep doing.

responsibilities	As a young principal with a baby at home and a wife who depended upon me for earning a living and supporting us you have to be completely clear about what you are doing. Albeit your ultimate goal to help the world to be a better place and make decisions that are just, fair and positive you have responsibilities not just for your self but for you child's future and the security of your partner.

successful	It is interesting to note that after my first principal's meeting I discovered that my fellow administrators did not all share my worries about doing the right thing and holding on to my job. Their age, experience or background made the decision making process pretty simple, "look after number one." These remarkable individuals are the stuff that successful administrators are made of. They can clearly see in every issue the solution that will cover their ass and treating superior asses appropriately is part of that process.

Survival	Administration is not a place for idealists, of any kind, people with principles are destine to drag themselves through a lot of hardship and will get to move a lot. Long before I became an administrator a good and wise teacher on staff with me in Estevan once explained the world to me. He had figured it out and spotted from his vantage point that doing the right thing is rarely if ever the right thing for you. Survival in an organisation depends on have the intensity and spinal dexterity of a tail gunner.

three years	The tail gunner makes no bones whatever about his or her task in life, it is to keep their eyes and instincts focused on what is behind them and make no moves forward that might expose oneself to danger of any kind. The remarkable thing is that this process is not fun but it is successful, in fact almost all principals, directors of education and bosses of any kind are experts in this method of operation if they have held their present job for more than three years.

own best interest	This means to us as individuals in society that most government and bureaucratic organisations are not only run by people who are incompetent but they are also almost always going to act in their own best interest. Decision making based on education, values and the ultimate good, is not and can not be a factor in successful administration.

trouble maker	What surprised me is that the virtue of "not being a trouble maker" is just as prevalent in church hierarchies as it is in business and public service. A "successful" member of the clergy is one who is a tail gunner. This is also true of medical practitioners in a hospital or office setting and especially true of lawyers in a law firm. Where ever people work together the Peter Principle and the tail gunner effect are present and the determining factor in advancement and survival in the role.

	For those smug folks in private business there are no branches of business where these two principles are not in affect. From store clerks to management those who show initiative, creativity and boldness are destine to be encouraged to seek an employment path working somewhere else.