I do not wish to dissect all of Collins’ work here in this blog; you could easily Google his work and find adequate summaries of his findings concerning businesses who made simple yet genius steps to move their organization’s productivity from good to great. There is, however, one aspect I do want to focus upon, and that is the context in which John Curtis has used Collins’ terminology. According to his own political blog, Curtis has asked us to question the means in which he desires to move Provo from good to great:
"How do we as a community achieve greater safety, prosperity, and increased unity? These are questions that I hope every resident of Provo asks over the next few weeks. It is my plan to help us continue our move from good to great. I will use my years of experience in business, and years of asking questions previously not even thought of, and adopting proven strategies to reach our objectives, to help us plan for the future. We know planning is essential in our daily lives and our businesses. Now let us realize that long term planning is also the best way for our city to become the greatest it can be." [1]
Mr. Curtis, I formally accept your challenge. I acknowledge that you have a desire to ‘continue’ our community’s move from good to great, which means you believe we are already on this path to greatness. Many people would agree with you, some may not. Regardless of the opinions of the masses, you have noticed matters within our city that need to be changed, and you outline them fairly well.
“I will use my years of experience in business”: To do what, exactly? To make an organization move from Good to Great doesn’t come down to the type of experience you have, Mr. Curtis, but it is about the leadership and another important issue we will touch on shortly. I find your openness to approach the affairs and issues of government as a business man quite unsettling and slightly frightening; a simple reality check into the inner workings of government (i.e. budgeting, staffing, and financing) would show you that government is not a business. I hope, for the sake of Provo, if you are elected that you realize this before you actually start making administrative decisions.
“and years of asking questions previously not even thought of”: Once again I find myself scratching my head. How do you expect to move the City of Provo from Good to Great by “asking questions previously not even thought of”? Trust me, government officials have a lot of questions; there are multiple meetings and study sessions where officials gauge the opinions of not only other elected officials but also the general public. Questions are always present, Mr. Curtis, what we need are solutions. If you believe that leadership can come through asking unique questions, then I ask you to perform a reality check because Provo doesn’t need any more questions. We need answers.
“adopting proven strategies to reach our objectives, to help us plan for the future”: Might the general public of Provo be so blessed to observe these amazing “proven strategies” that are going to propel our community into a realm of success? I sort of feel like the elderly woman on those old Wendy’s commercials by saying “Where’s the beef?!” Where is your substance, Mr. Curtis? What proven strategies are you going to use in order to help Provo plan for the future? Ambiguity and interesting questions will not propel anything forward, but you might see that it tends to hamper processes. As a businessman, I think you would know that by now.
Last of all, Mr. Curtis speaks about long-term city planning. I could not agree more with Curtis on this point, in all seriousness. Municipal governments (and any organization, for that matter) need to have both short-term and long-term visions to guide and direct their processes, finances, and operations. However, long-term city planning is extremely difficult and it requires teams of skilled and educated professionals, not individuals, to formulate these plans. You need the best minds on a team to formulate efficient long-term plans that have foresight and wisdom, and I applaud Curtis in noticing that long-term planning is needed for any organization to move from Good to Great.
However, there is one tiny problem with this scenario. Earlier I spoke of leadership trumping experience and mentioned another important detail that Jim Collins’ outlines in his book for any organization to move from Good to Great: Getting the Right People on the Bus. We are now talking about recruitment, and as I mentioned earlier, many of the plans Curtis has outlined will require some of the best and brightest minds in order to accomplish his goals. Luckily for us, Curtis has provided a section on his campaign website concerning Recruitment and Staffing. [2] There seems to be a disconnect between what Collins and Curtis believe in the essential factor of getting the right individuals on the bus. You cannot, and will not, move your organization from Good to Great unless you can attract the right talent to your organization, something which Curtis has openly claimed he will not do:
- We would expect those who serve to have some degree of expertise relative to the position in which they serve.
- Rather than drawing from the same “good ol boy/lady" pool, we would like to make a concerted effort to look beyond those who always seem to be in the loop and bring in fresh eyes when possible.
- We would only ask those to serve who actually reside in Provo.
- We would strive to select individuals that represent all groups in our city. This includes the 34 neighborhoods, students, minorities and businesses.
- We would insist that those who serve build unity in the city.
I think it is wonderful that Curtis wants to look for educational expertise in his candidates for staffing and appointments, but why would he only “ask those to serve who actually reside in Provo”? Mr. Curtis, do you actually believe that you need to live in Provo to understand the issues of our City? Are you willing to alienate the right people simply because they do not live in a geographical boundary of your liking? You state right before this that you are steering away from the “good ol boy/lady” system of politics, claiming that you are wanting to bring “fresh eyes” into your organization, but yet will refuse to look at candidates who do not live in Provo? That sounds strangely familiar to a “good ol boy/lady” system of government to me, Mr. Curtis, since you are directly contradicting yourself.
Mr. Curtis, you state that you want to take our fine city from Good to Great, but yet you lack the fundamental understanding and process of how to take us to that point. Unfortunately, despite your desires to be a progressive thinker with unique questions, your direct and blazing contradictions show that you are simply more of the same.
[1] http://provomayor.blogspot.com/
