Assume-itis
It was a wonderful lunch at
a great German restaurant with a very dear friend an event
which is not repeated often
enough. That friend is very arguably Americas finest
medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper.
Our lunch was full of
conversation about issues around not only the work of a
medical examiner and specific cases (with proper respect for
privacy as well as lunch digestion), but also with discussions
about organizational issues in a county government involving
the placement of a medical examiners function and its
relationship to the criminal justice system, human services,
human resources and more.
One particular subject came
up that is directly relevant to how we conduct public
administration.
There is a worldwide disease
that can strike without warning in any department, in any job
classification and can infect any person, whether an elected
official, an appointed officer or a full- or part-time
employee. In some organizations the disease can reach
epidemic proportions when unchecked and not treated.
Dr. Perper named this
disease Assume-itis. This
bureaucratic syndrome is characterized by a rash of behavior
by persons who make assumptions without checking facts, taking
statements or research by others out of context, gossiping and
speaking ill of colleagues or disrespecting the citizens we
serve.
Besides the rash cited
above, the other major symptom is the loss of impulse
control. A colleague who makes assumptions and runs
around acting on them without checking them may find that the
assumptions made become a basis of actions by other
people. Those actions, in turn, can spin out of control
and infect others.
An employee who prepares an
agenda report for the governing body, but speaks to the press
before making sure that the elected officials have seen the
document, may be putting those officials and others in an
unnecessarily awkward position.
Citing numbers without
verification or validation may lead others to think the
numbers are tantamount to the discovery of the Holy Grail, and
they may base programs, staffing and facility decisions on
those numbers. When in fact, reality sets in and cost overruns
are about to gobble up the budget, the result may be the
amputation of the programs, if not the employment of the
person.
It is important to help a
new colleague begin a career in public administration with a
mandatory vaccination program built around training and
ethics, schooling in the prevention of due-diligence failures
and appreciation of the terrible effects of Assume-itis on
their own careers, success and happiness in their chosen
profession.
Is there an effective
treatment for Assume-itis? Unfortunately, at this point
in the conversation, our lunch had ended and the last vestiges
of apple strudel were already being digested.
However, if I may dare to
speak for an eminent medical examiner, as well as contribute
my own HR perspectives, the best treatment is
prevention. Absent that, the next best approach is
coaching and mentoring by someone else who is not afraid to
say things to a fellow employee that will help the person
avoid a repeat infection.
Assume-itis remains in the
system. It can never be excised out completely, and it
may always be lurking ready to jump out if a
person isnt vigilant about their own behavior as a
professional.
Dr. Perper is a lawyer as
well as a physician. He would be one of the first to
say, Dont assume facts not in evidence. The best
professionals trust and verify rather than only doing one of
those two.
Phil Rosenberg The HR
Doctor http://www.hrdr.net/
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