How to destroy a business - or a government

Some years ago, a business colleague in Columbus, OH explained to me how he nearly lost his business. I'll bend the details (to protect the well-meaning, though not innocent). His company was moving. Taking care of customers; taking care of employees; making money.

Then, one day, one department head wants to talk to the owner. He reports that everything is great in his department. They are turning out their work, employees are happy, all is well... except for one small problem: that pesky telephone.

Fielding all those phone calls is interrupting staff. If we could just hire someone to handle the telephone, sort the calls to insure the  important ones were properly handled, it would be a great help.

A person was hired to handle the department telephone traffic. Payroll was increased. Profit was not.

A second department head wanted a talk with the boss. His department is doing fine, he brags. They are turning out the work, everyone is happy... except for one small problem: that pesky data entry.

Taking time to do all that data entry was eating into important staff member's time. If we could just hire a young computer keyboard whiz to handle the data entry, it would be a great help.

A person was hired to do data entry. Payroll increased. Profit did not.

A third department head wanted to see the boss. His department is doing great, turning out the work, everyone's happy... except for one small problem: pickup and delivery. Having to drop everything to make a delivery, or pick up some needed item was cutting into skilled workers time. Could we hire someone to handle all that go-fer stuff?

A person is hired, a vehicle purchased. Payroll and expenses increased. Profit did not.

This continued until my friend realized what was happening, got tough, and cut payroll to true essentials.

Years earlier, at a radio station where I worked, the station had the opportunity to interview a member of the famous DuPont family- of the giant DuPont chemical company. In discussing ways to achieve success, Mr. DuPont explained that it is okay to spend extravagantly on your home, if that will make you happy (providing you have the money to spend). But you can never do that for a business.

A business is a tool for earning a profit - while properly supporting employees and serving customers. You never make an expansion, you never hire an additional person, unless it can be shown that not doing so will cost the company money, or that doing so will increase profits.

That is why corporate C.E.O.s are highly paid. They know how to follow this rule, no matter how large the company... an extremely difficult task.

The same scenario happens in government, except that there is never a C.E.O. to rein in the waste. After all, government is always supported with other peoples' money, and profit is never a concern.

When we talk about smaller government, we are wishing for a C.E.O. who will attend to properly supporting employees and serving customers (taxpayers), while eliminating everything else. Not a huge demand. Not a job for a likeable but unskilled C.E.O.    

Things that bug an old man

It is always the little things! Like,

1. Rules of grammar: if you don't now the rule, you don't know when you break it. If you do know the rule, if can be very upsetting when someone else breaks it.

I once had a friend, a very competent and accomplished guy. Many times, in telling me of some past event, he began with "We was... ". To this day, when I think of him, I think "We was...".

I will be first to admit I do not always know the rule. I am sure my breaking the rule is upsetting to some. So, we should strive to learn the rules.

2. Watch TV news programs where they play clips of important politicians, and note the number of times you hear, "I couldn't have...". "I couldn't have been more proud"; "We couldn't have been more disappointed"; "I couldn't have been more surprised." Really? How do they know?

Whatever happened to "I was very proud."; "We were very disappointed"; "I was very surprised"?

3. People who do not take the time to articulate. Being old and hard of hearing, this is especially important to me. 

You don't have to pronounce veg·e·ta·ble with four syllables... the common veg-ta-ble is okay. But, if you slur those three syllables, or run over them with preceding or following words, you lose me.

As a radio announcer, I often worked a morning shift... a very early morning shift. Often when I had been up late the night before. Driving to the studio with lips and tongue feeling like clay, I repeatedly recited "How now, brown cow?", in an attempt to annunciate.

Listening to the news, I often want to ask the reporter to pause and recite "How now, brown cow" a few times.

4. Hearing politicians say things they could not possibly believe to be true, but which support the position of their party.

The current discussion of workers being "job locked" is the latest example. Victor Davis Hanson skillfully articulated my feelings today.

The real disaster behind Obama

Numerous highly respected commentators have written blistering indictments of Barack Obama. It leads one to wonder how we will survive the three remaining years of this president's term.

It is now glaringly apparent that Obama's election/re-election handlers realized a simple truth: The ill-informed, disinterested voters could form a more coherent bloc, than could the informed, caring voters.

Voters who pay attention, have read the constitution and truly care about the rule of law, often get bogged down in minutia. They fuss about minor policy differences and get really upset about details. In 2008, I heard many voters argue about some small difference with the policies of John McCain.

Then, in 2012, many complained that Mitt Romney was "too rich", "too stiff", "too Massachusetts", "too Mormon".

Meanwhile, voters who are ignorant of government actions, happily support a candidate they "like".

As Bruce Bialosky, founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee recently reminded us "Unfortunately, Republicans have not learned the lesson that the alternative is worse than a Republican they don't totally love. That is why we have Obama still." Indeed. 

But, I believe the problem runs even deeper. Recent studies have shown that, in spite of doubling and re-doubling of expenditures on education, Americans today are less educated than those of a few generations ago.

There are several apparent reasons. First, of course, are the teacher's unions. Too often, teachers are retained because of union status, competency be damned.

Then, there has been the trend of loading curriculum down with all sorts of social trivia, at the expense of serious teaching of the basics. 

Jack Kelly, a former official in the Reagan Administration, Wrote, "Massive ignorance of what every American should know is a recent phenomenon. To graduate from the eighth grade in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912, students had to answer questions like these: “define latitude and longitude; name and give the capitals of the states touching the Ohio river; describe the function of the liver; give the cause of the war of 1812 and name an important battle during that war.” Much less eighth grade, could recent graduates of a liberal arts college answer those questions?

So, we now have a couple of generations of barely literate Americans. We have become obsessed with You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Selfies and other gadgets and popular phenomena of the day. It seems no one gives a thought to The Bill of Rights, and such outdated notions as state capitols or the war of 1812.

What will it take to get America back on track? I believe it will require many real leaders who can rise to power and lead the way to change... back to the day when schools taught and students learned, resulting in citizens who could protect and preserve this wonderful nation.