How the Mighty Fall, FAA-Style
Posted by Publius on June 1st, 2009
(I’m on vacation this week- last full week I could schedule off until December- so here’s a post from Publius to tide us out through the week. I’ll post if I can but doubt it’ll happen… have a great week.
Oh yeah, rumor has it that we’ll see some kind of contract resolution at the end of the week, or beginning of next week. This wouldn’t surprise me because the Obama Administration is going to be launching a push for healthcare changes around the same time period- which means if they settle things with NATCA and it represents a raise, the news is liable to be hidden by all the hubbub around the healthcare plans. We’ll see.
-Paul)
Jim Collins (www.jimcollins.com) is a well-known management consultant with his feet (mostly) planted in the real world. He has a new book out titled “How the Mighty Fall” (excerpted in the May 25 issue of Business Week).
Collins describes the dynamics of leadership and teams with a comparison of teams on the way down and teams on the way up. Here’s my assessment of the FAA using his framework.
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Teams on the way down |
Teams on the way up |
FAA |
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People shield those in power from unpleasant facts, fearful of penalties and criticism for shining light on the rough realities |
People bring forth grim facts—”Come here and look, man, this is ugly”—to be discussed; leaders never criticize those who bring forth harsh realities |
On the way down … acquisition programs like ERAM are “on time and on budget.” Shining light on reality puts one in the crosshairs for reprisal & marginalization |
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People assert strong opinions without providing data, evidence, or a solid argument |
People bring data, evidence, logic, and solid arguments to the discussion |
On the way down … in my opinion. Some data – EAS 2006 results about not trusting management, not using information to improve performance, etc. |
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The team leader has a very low questions-to-statements ratio, avoiding critical input and/or allowing sloppy reasoning and unsupported opinions |
The team leader employs a Socratic style, using a high questions-to-statements ratio, challenging people, and pushing for penetrating insights |
On the way down … for example, the DOT Secretary’s disinterest in the FHCS results. Various FAA and service town hall meetings. Remember the one with Nick Sabatini in 2007 in which no questions were posed? Fear. No one dared challenge “Il Duce” and his #2 Harridan. |
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Team members acquiesce to a decision but don’t unify to make the decision successful—or worse, undermine it after the fact |
Team members unify behind a decision once made, then work to make the decision succeed, even if they vigorously disagreed with it |
On the way down … if you’ve ever been on HQ working group, task force, tiger team, etc., you know this one first hand. The nodding heads in the room, then the hallway talk as people leave, followed by backpedaling. |
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Team members seek as much credit as possible for themselves, yet do not enjoy the confidence and admiration of their peers |
Each team member credits other people for success, yet enjoys the confidence and admiration of his or her peers |
On the way down … Can you say “Corporate Awards Program”? The people who do the work get squat. |
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Team members argue to look smart or to further their own interests rather than argue to find the best answers to support the overall cause |
Team members argue and debate, not to improve their personal position but to find the best answers to support the overall cause |
On the way down … Debates aren’t about finding answers (much less “best” answers). They are about bureaucratic “counting coup.” Or, as recently played out on the “Your Two Cents” page, which service is the backbone of the FAA, Air Traffic, Airway Facilities, Flight Standards, etc. |
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The team conducts “autopsies with blame,” seeking culprits rather than wisdom |
The team conducts “autopsies without blame,” mining wisdom from painful experiences |
On the way down … Usually, it’s the lowest-ranking employee who becomes the scapegoat. And we certainly don’t seem to learn from experience. After the AAS-debacle, we supposedly moved to a “build a little, test a lot” model instead of large-scale Great Leap Forward technology programs. Now we’re back to the Great Leap Forward model with NextGen. |
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Team members often fail to deliver exceptional results and blame other people or outside factors for setbacks, mistakes, and failures |
Each team member delivers exceptional results, yet in the event of a setback each accepts full responsibility and learns from mistakes |
On the way down … Remember Nick Sabatini’s sworn testimony in the spring of 2008 about the infamous “Customer Service Initiative”? It literally is taking an act of Congress to excise that particular malapropism from our regulatory management mindset. Nick never did own up to it. |
I want to add one more to Collins’ list, based on 20 years experience in the FAA
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Teams on the way down |
Teams on the way up |
FAA |
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Project plans become more important than project results. Plans become inflexible and more effort is put into tracking progress than working. Program offices don’t find resources or smooth the way for a project – they steal resources and insert hurdles. |
Project results, products, are more important than the plan. Plans are flexible and adaptable. Program offices open doors and provide resources. |
On the way down … We like our pretty plans and web portals and monthly and quarterly progress reviews that have no consequences for program managers – and substantial downside risk for the people actually doing the work. |
June 1st, 2009 at 6:17 am
Teams on the way down:
There are truths that cannot be spoken.
Speaking the truth is a career limiting move.
Teams on the way up:
Operational and cultural truth is spoken to power.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:19 am
It took about 15 months for Garvey to get her agenda fully in place at FAA back in the 97-98 time frame.
I would expect a similar time table now, with Babbitt being sworn in this week and signing the new NATCA contract within a few days or weeks.
The new marching orders from the Obama WH will be issued and Babbitt will get to work shaping the agency in to the form Mr Obama wants.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:27 am
>>Team members unify behind a decision once made, then work to make the decision succeed, even if they vigorously disagreed with it.<
When I read this one, I didn’t think of working groups, tiger teams, etc., but I thought of the St. Louis Kool-Aid briefings. Where Flems jumped at the chance to enforce the IWRs, giving out discipline like it was candy and telling the workforce that they didn’t agree with it while doing it. So in that aspect the FAA succeeded.
June 1st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Kind of like those study’s where people are told to administer an ever-increasing voltage “shock” to subjects when they get answer’s wrong, even when they knew it was painful they continued because “someone in power” told them it was OK. Never forget.
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
I will never forget what management has done to this once great job. The funny thing is management (At least at ZAB) appear to be playing nice right now in light of the coming contract. All I know is I don’t trust them.
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I wonder if Garvey will try and seduce Babbitt?
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:18 am
Wow- looks like all the sniveling controllers meet everyone of Mr. Collins “on the way down” items….
Hey- Paul look at the last year of posts. Looks like you’ve been “down” for quite a while.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:29 am
Dems control Congress, Obama is POTUS, we’re back at the table with a new contract pending, and Obama’s guy Babbitt is taking over at FAA this week.
Oh, and the NATCA PAC is 4 million dollars a cycle(a cycle is two years, in case you didn’t(probably)know)
But NATCA is toast ?
Dude, put the crack pipe down, that stuff is really bad for you.
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
AS @ SCT Says,
It is unreal that these management types come here after their 3 years of terror to gloat and dream that things won’t change. Childish and an idiot, sounds like the typical management type to me. Enough said.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Babbitt has been sworn in and is at work.
Which means he’ll be siging the new contract shortly and then it will go out for ratification.
Choosing to remain in a state of denial…nothing new for the “higher skill set”.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Who is AS @ SCT?
Hey Dude, what are your credentials? What weak stick sup signed you off anyway? Was it the Ontario do gooder? You write so many words, so many times, but alas you continue to say nothing. Grow up and keep practicing filling holes, you need to improve a whole bunch. Rudolph gave you up and told me all about you. What a POS you are.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
So I just got home from a retirement party. PATCO rehire, and he got his 20 years good time.
Great guy, good friend, and I was reminded that everything NATCA is was on the backs of these old PATCO guys. They went on strike and put it all on the line.
And we are still fighting the same battles today. They fired the wrong group of people 28 years ago, and allowed the same mindset to stay in the FAA and fester, like a boil that needs to be lanced.
So how do you change the mindset of the upper FAA management?
I watched as good, very good, middle management were FORCED to retire because they would not drink the FAA kool-aid after the IWRs.
So how do we change this? The Same anti-controller/tech-ops (and others who actually do the work such as inspectors, office folk, etc.) management people stay. They hunker down and claim they didn’t support the IWR’s.
Then when a different Admin rolls in they claim they are the higher skill set, and try to run an Agency they have no clue about.
An Agency I happen to love. A job I love. A mission to bring EVERY one home safe. It actually is a higher calling. And everyone who has saved lives knows what I am saying.
I would suggest cutting FAA upper management by 90%. Doing away with AOV and ATO. And Ya know what SYS-OPS too. And HR having anything to do with running the NAS. Let’s go back to when Air Traffic Controllers ran Air Traffic.
But What the hell do I know. I only have 25 years controller experience. I have only saved thousands of lives. I am a lower skill set.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:00 am
…Hey Dude, what are your credentials?…..
Thanks for reading all those words.
So dude, what’s it like, still living with your parents ?
June 5th, 2009 at 6:03 am
…So how do you change the mindset of the upper FAA management?….
Simple, elect a pro NATCA POTUS like Obama.
Change is coming, the FAAMA and the rest of the McCain voters in management know it, and they don’t like it. Tough luck !
Garvey had management in a headlock and Babbitt will too.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
“Garvey had management in a headlock” No, Mike McNally had Garvey in a crotch lock.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
All,
The issue is not who was a union spokesperson. As John said, it was maddeningly frustrating to find out NOT that Pat forwarded the blog to FAA leadership but that he lied when he said three months later he knew nothing about it.
One of the allegations in this lawsuit involves breach of privacy when the plantiff’s ssn and retirement date were on a piece of paper that was faxed to PHX. The allegation is that I, John, and other co defendants then re-sent this to others/each other.
I have NO clue what that is all about, and part of it is due to the fact it happened over six years ago. The plaintiff’s attorney attaches the docs (redacted) I still don’t recognize them but I do recognize the email, and it was a boiler plate grievance that myself and several others were asked to wordsmith. NOTHING about ssn or retirement date. Now, over the last YEAR I’ve endured a security investigation about this along with several other NATCA members, and had to DEFEND myself at MY expense for the last eight months on a charge that from my perspective is completely devoid of merit.
So, imagine my surprise when today I open up an email with a legal filing from one of the other defendants (not John or I)that says basically, “It was me.” Well, that was nice. That would have been nice to know a YEAR ago.
That is what PISSES me off about all this. The longer it goes on the worse it gets, and the only people REALLY getting hurt here are those having to spend their own resources defending themselves from actions current NATCA officers did and hid.
One very pissed off Bob Marks
June 5th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Hey Marks, Haven’t you followed Linda”s lead yet? C’mon man, just do it. Think of all the life insurance $$ your “heirs” will get. Go for it!
June 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Could we possibly behave like adults here, everyone? You might hate each other’s guts, but please try to keep things civil. Such crassness hurts you more than it hurts the person you’re directing it at.
June 6th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Um,
I think you’re right. I was all ready to send desert monkey a new football to replace the one he popped, but I think I’ll just let him put another patch on it.
June 6th, 2009 at 8:17 am
This post will be just as helpful as Max’s was.
You’re an idiot, Max. Go tell Mommy what a big man you are, maybe she’ll do your laundry and give you more kisses.
June 6th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
All,
This is the sickest display since the post about leaving my kids with a child sex addict. Post 15 is NOT from me. I did write that on The Main Bang, but not here. I’ve called Paul Cox about this.
What was posted here is a horrible demonstration of what I’m dealing with day to day. Encouraging someone to commit suicide is terrible, and beyond the bounds of human decency. I am now viscerally understanding what Linda had to put up with while she fought against what is becoming clear to me is pure evil.
My real name is Bob Marks. I live in Vista, CA with my two sons. I raised my three children on my own, and am proud of that. I have served this union with distinction and honor for YEARS. I challenge the internet coward or cowards to come forward with their information. I work at SCT, in the BUR area, and I am not a “weak stick”. Neither is Mark Athas (AS@SCT). He is one of the people I trust with my LIFE if I need him.
In 22 years of ATC, I’ve never had an OD or OE. So, let’s get started here. Post your name(s) and record.
Bob Marks
June 6th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Sorry, post 16.
June 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a “max” in here.