Thursday, July 29: Day 5

Political Management I
  CIA:  The Aldrich Ames Spy Case
     Summary:  In 1994, was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia.  He was paid over $2 million dollars from Russia. The CIA director James Woolsey decided that no one in the CIA would be dismissed or demoted at the agency and there was a "huge uproar" in Congress. "Some have clamored for heads to roll in order that we could say that heads have rolled," Woolsey declared. "Sorry, that's not my way." Woolsey was forced to resign.  Click here for the Wikipedia summary. 

Instructor:  Phil Heyman

Key Take Aways:

• How to evaluate what an agency/department can work on?  There are 3 factors to consider.  1)  What capability does your organization have?  What is the skill set of your organization.  2)  What do you have external support to do?  What does the legislators support?  Board?  Governor?  and 3)  What value does your organization provide?  What are taxpayers willing to pay for?  Where 3 these abilities overlap--this will determine the issue you will be able to achieve. 
• Culture at the CIA.  We have two students in the class who are at the CIA.  They were able to share the "inside perspective" on the Aldrich Ames case.  They talked about the importance of trust in their organization.  To get hired, you must go through extensive background checks, you have regular polygraph tests, you may be asked to be on a covert mission which puts your life on the line.  Due to this trust, they believe they will have to fire people. There is also a concern that if you fire someone and they are upset, they might try and sell US secrets.  The discussion caused me to have 2 thoughts--one positive and one negative--Positive:  With high trust, the team could accomplish a lot because they would be spending their energy working trying to accomplish their goal.   Negative:  This trust may cause very few "checks and balances." Given the type of work that the CIA does, I am not sure this is a good thing.   

Sept 2010 Feedback from a friend:  Trust does not preclude nor should it ever preclude checks and balances. Checks and balances are built in the institutional processes of organizations. Trust promotes open and honest dialogue and the opportunity to discuss difficult topics and differing viewpoints. Trust promotes moving in a common direction and vision. Leaders that are trusted can make mistakes and quickly rebound. It is the absence of trust that creates subversive organizations- organizations where it is every man for themselves- all about me thinking and doing the expedient for the good of the few rather than looking at the common good.



















Organizational Design II
  NYC Transit Authority

Instructor: Steve Kelman

•   That's the rule!  When asking people why they do something they often say that is the rule.  If you send them back to find the rule, only about 20% of the time can they find a rule. 
• "You cannot give an official power to do right without at the same time giving him power to do wrong."  Theodore Roosevelt.

Implementing Strategy I
  Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India

Aravind Eye Care Hospital is an optalmological hospital with several locations in India. It was founded by Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy.  Aravind keeps its surgical equipment in operation 24 hours a day, which reduces the cost-per-surgery. Also, doctors focus only on performing surgery, and nurses handle pre-op and post-op care, which increases doctor productivity. These actions allow the company to give away free surgeries to the poor while still earning a profit. The hospital performs high-volume and high-quality eye surgeries inexpensively to address the needs of the 12 million blind people in India.

Instructor:  Peter Zimmerman

• Start with Zero Cost in Mind.  Arun, one of the students from India shared that whatever project he works on they have a technique they use called "start with zero cost in mind."  They first try to think of ways of accomplishing what they want with "no cost."  This has caused them to consider volunteers, NGOs, students, etc.  I think in the US, this is a good place to start our thinking too! 
• What strategies can your organization implement?  Here are the 3 primary factors to consider...
• What is your organizational purpose? What value does the public think you provide?
• What do you have the operational capacity to do?
• What do you have the legislative support to do?