Lack of Consequences

Why do people do horrible things to each other? Why do people treat other people as things? Most people have moments that they're not proud of, but what about people who are continuously and barely consciously dismissive and contemptuous of their fellow human beings? There are undoubtedly many reasons, but one stands out to me: lack of consequences.

One of the prevailing headlines this week is the accusations of attempted rape against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, events that are alleged to have happened when he was in high school and later in college. Let's establish that I believe his accuser Dr. Ford, as well as the subsequent accusers that have come forward. You may disagree with me, and I may be proven wrong, but why are these accusations so credible to many of us? Granted, some do not find them credible, basing their incredulity on their perception that Kavanaugh is a "good man" and "would never had done those things". But back to why I find them believable.

Why would someone wait 35+ years to level an an assault accusation, an accusation of attempted rape, on someone? The attacks upon the accuser, here in post "#MeToo" 2018, and the united disbelief and personal attacks from men in power, should shed some light upon the reasons why some women don't report sexual assaults. The risk that they won't be believed, that their own lives will be put under a microscope, that their attackers will be portrayed as the victims and that in the end the rapist will escape consequences.

And many of these predators know that they will evade consequences.

Boys from well-connected families, with access to effective lawyers and enough money to buy silence are brought up knowing that they have a highly functional safety net that will catch them and protect them if they get into trouble. Of course this doesn't mean that every rich kid is a rapist or that every wealthy family's lawyer's time is mainly spent keeping the kids out of jail. But it does mean that those who do choose to become abusers know that they will be protected and likely escape serious consequences.

Pair the perception of invulnerability of the rich with the systemic bias against rape victims, and actions such as those which Kavanaugh is accused of become all too believable.

So what if Kavanaugh is known or believed to be a good family man, sober and serious? That's now. It's not beyond the pale of possibility that someone who acted the way Kavanaugh is alleged to have acted when in high school and college could become more circumspect as he got older and considered the repercussions to his judicial career if he continued to be a drunken rapist.

It remains to be seen what the consequences of his actions will be. There appears to be only one or two Republicans who are wavering on his appointment and Kavanaugh could very well escape any consequences and become a Supreme Court Justice. 

September 11th - Why Are We Really Observing This Day?

It's September 11th again. What was, for the first few anniversaries, a solemn remembrance, has become an opportunity for political posturing and chest thumping pseudo-patriotism. That, and an opening for all the crackpot conspiracy theorists to trot out their idiotic slants on 9-11 that the rest of us have mercifully forgotten. I have grown weary of all the reminders of how tough New Yorkers are, how brilliant Giuliani was, how the Saudis betrayed us, and most of all, how invoking that horrible day becomes an excuse to push whatever agenda the politician du jour is braying about.

Then, of course, there's our embarrassment of a president.

An exclamation point? It's like he's announcing a celebration. Then the video of him double fist-pumping as he arrived at Shanksville, like it's a campaign rally or a victory party.

Every year we say "Never Forget", but have we actually learned anything in the last 17 years? We've been mired in a series of conflicts in the Middle East ever since. In Afghanistan we were supposed to drive out the Taliban and foster a democratic government. We toppled the Taliban government, but have managed to install a series of corrupt national leaders and encouraged the resurgence regional warlords, who run much of the country, the parts of it's not run by Taliban commanders anyway. We have lost a significant number of soldiers to attacks by Afghan soldiers and police; our alleged allies. In Iraq we intervened based on a purposeful misreading of the intelligence, and got sectarian fighting and ISIS for our trouble. We intervened in Libya with the result being no central government and a dead ambassador. We talked tough and supported rebels in Syria, and bombed a few airfields, but the Russians and Iranians have propped up Assad.

We've increased our military involvement around the world and curtailed civil liberties at home, but we have done nothing to address the root causes of the attacks in 2001.

We say "Never Forget", but we have.

Managers Part XIX - Good Leaders CAN be Bad Managers

Reading a novel the other day I came across this quote "People often confuse leadership and management, you may be an effective leader, but terrible at minutia". It was in reference to a pilot who was promoted to a position where she no longer flew, but planned the missions of her subordinates.

So often we hear the traits of leadership praised while those of management looked down upon as inferior, as if a manager is someone who somehow failed to be a leader. I have always taught that leadership is just one trait of a good manager. But this quote made me want to take it further. A leader is someone who can inspire others to follow, and I've always thought that someone who had leadership qualities in a management role was by definition a good manager, but I am rethinking that position. Effective management is, in part, a function of effective leadership. Inspiring one's followers to the point where they can have responsibility delegated to them is a mark of a good manager. But that part of the quote about minutia is the key. A person can be an inspiring and charismatic leader, but lacks the skill at analyzing, organizing and planning that are essential ingredients that go into the makeup of a successful manager. Visualize a manager who is well liked, whose subordinates will follow any orders, but cannot put together a schedule, or properly budget, or order the right amount of product; who cannot articulate the needs of his business unit to corporate headquarters. He wouldn't last too long, despite his popularity with "the troops".

In this series on managers, I have concentrated mostly on the people management aspect of being an effective manager. What has been the unspoken assumption all along has been that, in order to manage the people, you first need to be proficient at the other management skills - the minutia.