Induced Labor

Doctors intervene and induce labor when waiting for normal contractions to begin would pose unacceptable risk to an expectant mother or baby. The decision to take this step is never a decision made without serious thought. Society is now experiencing contractions that portend disaster. At risk is our trust in the security and integrity of our systems. City council members and general managers imprisoned for fraud. Trusted staffers guilty of embezzlement, county supervisors found to have diverted pandemic dollars to family members, nationally elected officials flaunting all boundaries related to ethics and civility.


Corruption has seeped into every interstitial space of our society, so much so that the citizenry defaults to thinking nothing is without taint in institutions we rely on to navigate in today’s world. Perilously at risk, we are beyond the time to induce reform into the body of institutions that assert dominion over us in our municipalities and these United States.


A quote referenced in Gerald E. Caiden’s 1969 book, Administrative Reform, is as prescient now as it was then, perhaps even more so. It states, “Men considering the world, see things that are bad, situations that are wrong, conditions that affront and feel compelled to reflect upon the source of their anomalies which distress their natural desire to inhabit a world that yields their own standards of desirability.” What is the source of those anomalies that we need to reflect on today? The quest for easy profitability, greed, the ubiquitous unquenchable thirst for power? An attitude of well...everyone else is doing it so why shouldn’t I?”

When I’m chatting about organizational change, I often mention Professor Caiden, who I studied under in my long-ago days at the University of Southern California (USC). Many times, I’ve borrowed from what I remember from his lectures in my effort to remind the willing and those who are patient enough to hear me out, about the citizenry’s responsibility to ensure that society’s actions are on behalf of the public interest. Interest, in the context of protecting the well-being of the community at large, not of individuals. Not of self, as we are wont to do in this era ruled by the gods of individualism.


In his seminal book, Caiden defines administrative reform as “the artificial inducement of administrative transformation against resistance.” Hence, my opening paragraph as a gestational metaphor, getting something to happen in opposition to the organic “natural” way of things when something is imperiled and time is of the essence. When conditions warrant intervention to prevent catastrophe. Stay with me in the gestational thread as I inform that researchers at Michigan State University recently discovered that the time of day that medication was administered to induce labor had a significant effect on the duration of labor experienced by the mothers-to-be.


Prior to the pandemic of early 2020 I was a guest lecturer in an Arizona State University Graduate Engineering course entitled Advanced Procurement Systems. One of the three sessions I taught was on Ethics + Politics. The class was composed of students of varying ages, backgrounds, and enthusiasms. A sizable percentage of the students, who were from the southern part of Asia, explained that they’d heard that the business culture in the United States was far different than the countries they’d hailed from. Not a surprise here. ’d worked in Libya for a large business concern and am very familiar with the dilemma

faced when expats applying ethical concepts from the US attempted to conduct business in another country. The thing I wanted to shout about was that the students were eager to participate in the situational exercises that challenged them to investigate their position on ethical dilemmas. They were excited and paid close attention to the stories of ethical violations and the actions or inactions that occurred once the wrongdoing was found out.


For the past two years my time has been spent addressing family vicissitudes of life, and contrary to previous years, I have not been actively involved in studying or participating in organizational decision-making. But I’ve been watching and listening. To angst-filled calls from former colleagues and friends who are still working in and with municipal sector entities. Even had the calls not come, no one who lives here with any allegiance to our country and its citizenry can close their ears to the cacophony of the ongoing chaos.


So, my ifs are these. If I were to stand in front of those students, these six years later, I wonder if their enthusiasm for learning about ethics is the same. And I wonder about those in charge, those I used to work with, those who I see stories about along with you, my reader. Has the commitment to ethical principles in the current world dissipated? If you were an administrator with influence who was faced with a landscape of public interest issues which if left unaddressed would put us all at risk, would you hesitate or intervene and induce reform? As you ponder your answer, don’t take too long. Timing is always everything.

Steppin’ Up

By Gwendolyn W. Williams • February 8, 2023
The past twenty some years seem to have flown by at hypersonic speed. Technological change has made me dizzy. Videoconferencing meetings used to be expensive and just limited to executive teams. Zoom meetings for staff or book clubs can now be accessed at no cost. Just as I get used to all of the features on my iPhone a new model comes out and I’m asking my nephews to come by and explain the new features. It’s hard to keep up. Advances in knowledge and technology have come faster than our ability to adapt. Exhaustion is global. People are folding their arms, planting their feet, and saying “no more!” In the long ago times Socrates opined that “the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Yeah…he’s right but it’s 2023 and we’re just coming out of a pandemic. There’s not much energy left to fight or embrace or to focus for that matter. In contemplating recent assignments I’ve looked at situations, taken a deep sigh, thought “change is so hard”, and wondered if I should just opt out. Change that needs to be made can appear as if you are facing a Terracon Transformer, but as they say, the journey to get to a different place begins with the first step. And although the change may indeed need to be sweeping, in order to be successful, it must start with small, manageable, carefully orchestrated micro initiatives. Slow, steady, and persistent…baby steps. For the sake of conversation let’s say that an organization decides to adopt an electronic workflow system. The vendor suggests that the implementation will only take about six months. The reception to the implementation, which will involve additional work for everyone, has been met with skepticism and maybe overt resistance. An implementation plan has been developed that matches the timeline suggested by the vendor. During these times of high anxiety and widespread staffing challenges I’m suggesting that the timeline be elongated, that the phases and steps outlined by the vendor be broken down into smaller increments, and that the implementation schedule is doubled. Baby steps. A slower road to desired productivity gains, but one that will ultimately result in a more sure-footed and effective implementation process. Incorporating change has always been hard, but right now it’s feels like it’s bone-crushing. It’s time to slow the pace down and obsess more on getting things right. Staff should be allowed time to contemplate (focus on) the changes and pace themselves to develop the requisite organizational strength to transition to a new system, or a new structure, or a new initiative. They should be given plenty of “wobble time” to play with the system and get comfortable with it before the change has been declared to have been made. This approach is an imperative these days. The failure rates for change adoption are notoriously high, so why not take more time up front to develop more confidence while “building the new”? Slower productivity might appear to be a non-starter in our nano-scaled world, but the long-term results will prove to be worth it. The hyper-fast rates that businesses were running at, a faster better cheaper mode that we were all buckling under in pre-pandemic years, can’t be sustained right now. Too much pressure, too much anxiety, too much change in the universe and metaverse. It’s time to slow things down. Allow the change to be digested at a reasonable pace. Smaller, surer, persistent baby steps will get us all up and running.

Maybe There’s a Way to Rewrite the Script…?

By Gwendolyn W. Williams • September 12, 2022
Summer 2022 - Can’t find any new crime dramas on streaming services? If you love that genre, you might be hooked into reading until the wee hours of the morning at www.justice.gov/news or www.stateoig.gov/case-summaries . The results of investigations on these sites have all the makings of a binge-worthy TV series. Lack of accountability. Incompetence. Greed. Incarceration. A parade of heads of large and small organizations, elected officials, and desperately ambitious employees, consultants or contractors heading to prison for white collar crime in the form of procurement fraud. With costs for essential services increasingly including a corruption quotient, is there any way to reverse the loss of the public’s faith in organizations that purport to serve their interest? How do we stop the aforementioned parade? There’s no magic bullet or simple answer. Taking on the challenge requires implementing rigorous standards that involve education and assessment and acceptance of the resolve that will be required to minimize the number of bad actors like those featured in the websites mentioned above. You may think as a consultant, my position on this issue is a tad self-serving. But it’s based on 40+ years in the world of procurement and project management in the private and public sectors. Both sides of the fence, as the cliché goes. Take a look at Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) who, like staff involved in procurement, are charged with ensuring integrity in the financial transactions they are involved in. CPA’s have to complete a program of study, followed by an exam, then certification and licensure which can be suspended for violations. Not so for those responsible for the expenditure of millions, sometimes billions of dollars to procure construction projects, technology services, and equipment to keep the country moving. Entry level procurement positions typically, but not always, require a degree in business, finance, or a similar field. Not enough. Engineers develop specifications and requirements for these purchases, but rarely receive any procurement training. They need to. Obtaining goods and services that meet the needs of an organization at an acceptable cost is no easy feat. It requires specialized education and training. At a minimum staff tasked with procurement responsibility should complete a certificate program that includes ethics, purchasing strategies, evaluation, negotiations, and contract terms and conditions. This should also apply to a lesser extent to their technical counterparts. Certification, in and of itself, still is not sufficient. Another “must have” is tailored in-house training that includes addressing procurement requirements and any special conditions that are specific to the organization or municipality. Regularly scheduled compliance assessments are the next step in reducing the procurement to prison pipeline. This step may help lessen the influence of that noun that starts with a P, followed by an O, followed by an L, (you’ve guessed by now…politics). Unfortunately, there are individuals who try to use power and influence to determine a procurement outcome that will ultimately and surreptitiously benefit them to the detriment of the public. Activity that can eviscerate the performance of the smartest, well-trained procurement staff. If, as a result of the assessment trouble is found, a detailed audit and a transformation plan should be next. Unceasing vigilance is required. Education and training and vigilance via assessment are a must. That’s the gist of what I have to say. I especially like the vigilance part. The word has a hint of drama about it. Some have suggested I work on a screenplay…take what I’ve personally witnessed and produce one of those series that stream. Share what a part of the world looks like in this particular area where crime is always a temptation. Movies have certainly influenced mass behavior, right? What about a series which is not focused on the criminals but an intriguing but unassuming character. A low-key Clark or Clarissa Kent-like hero who ruthlessly advocates for integrity? One who fights for the public interest with a zeal that embodies all the best Marvel characters merged into one. Might not be as intoxicating as the movie Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko’s “greed is good” commentary or as adrenaline-producing as sex crime dramas. But maybe my spiel would motivate the citizenry to pay keener attention to what’s going on inside organizations and how their tax dollars are being spent. Timely and important right? Would you watch? Honestly…would you watch?