What are consultants, Management Consultants to be exact? Some say they are the saviors of distressed businesses; some say they are merely bloodsucking parasites; and some say they are just soulless whores. And some of those sayers just ain’t being nice. But, depending on the circumstances and the outcome, all those descriptions can be true individually or in concert.
The job of consultants is, simply put, to identify and correct business problems with the goal of improving the company’s bottom line. Seems simple enough doesn’t it? Well, it actually is that simple, except for the correcting part.
So, how does this relate to being President?
Yeah, this is political --- how could it not be? It’s the season, the country is in distress, and a consultant is claiming to have all the answers. The problem though is that this country’s problems may not be so easy to fix, even for the most able of consultants.
Why is that you ask? Well, a good consultant can indeed discover the roots of a problem and recommend solutions. Unfortunately agreeing on a specific solution and then implementing it cannot be done in a vacuum; it requires teamwork. Also, most companies, even conglomerates, usually have fairly simple problems involving production, distribution, labor, warrantee costs, liability costs, overhead, and profit margins. The only truly difficult business problems involve product creation (imagineering) and marketing which often require mirrors and magic and gullible consumers as part of the solution. That’s something politicians can only dream about, he said with a smirk.
So, how does this relate to being President you ask again?
After a consultant identifies the problems and the customer agrees to a solution there are three commonly accepted methods used to build and implement that solution: A) Majority Rule; B) Consensus; and C) Best Practices.
Let’s exam those options:
C) Best Practices --- Offering a Best Practices solution simply means offering up the best solution used by others to solve similar problems. It requires a consultant with extensive knowledge of related industries, or in this case, a thorough understanding of how other governments have solved similar problems. For commercial companies Best Practices solutions can be easy to implement, but in a government setting it’s probably not a slam-dunk scenario. We Americans just don’t want to be like ‘Those Europeans’, or ‘Those Canadians’, or any other group. We Americans are simply too ruggedly individualistic to wear someone else’s boots, gosh darnit.
B) Consensus --- This can be thought of as getting all the liars in one room and not letting them out until all agree on a solution. If you are concerned for their welfare, don’t be. Sending out for Chinese and Pizza is completely kosher. Consensus is arguably the best solution methodology for any NGO or commercial venture. But some political parties are so self absorbed and beholden to special interest groups (Grover Norquist, Karl Rove and the Koch brothers come easily to mind) that individual thought combined with true examination of other’s thoughts is, let’s say, frowned upon. True consensus requires all participants to actually participate. So you have to ask yourself: Have we elected anyone who actually represents us? Anyone who actually thinks? Honestly, now. Mitt would have to be a world-class cat herder.
And lastly A) Majority Rule --- This can be thought of as a simple ‘Up or Down’ vote. Typically a couple of Congressmen and/or Congresswomen get together in a back room with a clutch of lobbyists and ‘craft’ a bill designed to solve some real or imaginary problem. Then they attempt to bring it to a vote. Although this method generally proves to be less than efficient, sometimes requiring many do-overs, it will at the end of the day, be the chosen methodology for several reasons. It will allow some elected officials to faithfully represent us. It will allow some elected officials to honor their pledges to special interest groups. And it will allow some elected officials to sleep through the hearings waking only in time to vote the party line. It is, unfortunately, the method best suited to our current do-nothing Congress.
So, how does all that relate to picking a President?
For my two cents a management consultant degree is impressive, it may even bring the consultant riches. But, it may not be of any practical use should he or she be elected to the Office of President. Congress won’t abide Best Practices solutions. Congress won’t sit still for long hearings that can only end once consensus is achieved. That leaves only the Majority Rule method of problem solving. That is what we have now; that is what we have always had. A consultants talents will assuredly be wasted.
For my two cents I would prefer a President who will at least try to represent me, not some special interest group. A President who will at least try to make us understand that a lop-sided my way or the highway Congress is not democratic. A President who will at least try to make We The Electorate see the bigger picture. And a President who will paint a picture of Our America, not a picture depicting only the wants-and-gimmes of special interests and big business and narrow-minded non-thinkers. I don’t care if that President is a Republican or Democrat, is Green or Purple, or has any other affiliation. Because, when it comes to viable solutions there are good things to be had from socialism, there are good things to be had from conservatism, there are good things to be had from progressivism, and there are good things to be had from most other ‘isms’ as well. What we need and deserve is a President who can deliver the appropriate portions of each. Full stop.
