Michael Lissack 8. Make sure that any request for information is fully justified and that it isn’t distributed too freely (you don’t want data to fall into the wrong hands). 9. Assign to lower-level managers, in the name of delegation and par- ticipation, responsibility for figuring out how to cut hack, lay off, or move people around. 10. Above all, never forget that you, the higherups, already know ev- erything important.” If the above tendencies are true in the private sector they are more grossly true in the public sector. People are most motivated when they are able to participate in making decisions about organizational goals (and, of course, are given the necessary information and resources to do so). Even when those goals are determined by others, it is critical that employees be able to decide how best to reach them, that they hear from a supervisor, “Here’s where we need to get; you decide how we get there.” First, we teach our government bureaucrats to distrust their own think- ing by making them use stilted civil service tests for advancement and to avoid seeking promotions on merit or hard work. Never mind what you accomplished, how did you do on this multiple choice test? Then we teach them that small errors are considered errors just like big ones. A mistake, you can’t be trusted with responsibility. No wonder they learn to play it safe, and wait to be told, rather than exercising a little intellectual autonomy. Why take the chance? Many people’s sense of worth is directly related to the number of situations in which they are in control. Many people have problems with their self-image because they are clearly in control of so little. In challenging situations, some will take chances to get things done. Most won’t. They fear being wrong. That fear discourages what is probably our least expensive and most valuable learning technique, trial and error. Done right, cognitive trial and error costs next to nothing. More importantly it gives them the confidence to do what we actually want them to do - deal with problems responsibly.
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