OR/MS Today - February 2001

February 2001

ORacle

Pistol Packin' Mama

By Douglas A. Samuelson

"Hey, Donna, what did you think of that meeting? Did you expect such a nasty argument?" the OR/MS analyst asked his neighbor, a restaurant manager. The analyst had finally done something he had never imagined doing: he had attended a meeting of the local school board. The proposal to abolish the music program at his daughter's school, as part of a budget-balancing move, had propelled him into civic activism, or at least active interest.

"Actually, Jim, I wasn't surprised at all," Donna answered. "Things were pretty quiet the last two months as they tried to hammer out the size of the budget request, so they were due."

"What do you mean?" Jim was puzzled. "Why would you expect the bigger, tougher issue to result in less of an argument?"

"You're being too logical," Donna admonished, "or at least using the wrong kind of logic. You don't get into politics much, do you?"

"I try not to," Jim admitted. "I just want to solve well-defined problems, not get bogged down in all the politics."

"That's about what I figured," Donna smiled. "But there's logic in the politics, too. Haven't you noticed that, in general, the big arguments aren't usually over the big issues?"

"Well, I guess I'm not sure," Jim conceded, "but I suppose you're right."

"There's a good reason," Donna explained. "Remember, I see this at the Zoning Commission, too — I have to go to a lot of their meetings, because little innocent-sounding proposals to change traffic patterns and parking regulations, can really affect our restaurant's business. All the little details are what's important, both in the restaurant and out on the street!"

"Oh, I see," Jim said. "Parking on your street really affects you, and you can see the effect, while some big long-term planning decision may not mean as much. Is that it?"

"Well, there is that," Donna replied, "but even when the big issue does have obvious, major effects, the discussion tends to be nicer. I'm pretty sure the reason is that, when a hot topic is on the agenda, everyone comes in treading softly. They all know that there's a lot of potential for a fight, and no one wants to be the one to start it. They're careful to set up rules of debate and follow them, listen to everyone respectfully, and allow enough time for a thoughtful decision.

"But then at the next meeting, or the one after that, when no one expects trouble, someone dismisses a minor issue as unimportant, and someone who thinks it is important gets mad, and away we go! That's what happened tonight. The fact is, if they had abolished our school's orchestra, your Katie would have found somewhere else to play the cello, and my Kurt would have found somewhere else to play the trombone. The private music teachers, who were behind a lot of the protest, would still have about as many students. The school music teachers are in the union, so most of them would just have been reassigned within the system. But the Board wasn't expecting a hot discussion, so they were a little sloppy about how they set up the hearing, and — well, you saw what happened."

"Ha!" Jim exclaimed. "Very good. Now how can I apply this to reduce the stress in my office? I see what we're doing, but I'm not sure how to get others to change how we run meetings."

"The meetings may not be the place to start," Donna told him. "One of my regular customers, an organizational psychologist, told me he has a sign in his office: 'Look for the one person who isn't stressed, and start with him. He's the carrier!'"

"Great!" Jim laughed. "And your explanation reminds me of something strange I saw a couple of years ago. Now I think I see what that was about, too.

"I was out in San Diego for a professional convention," he recounted, "and one day I rode a bus downtown to do some sightseeing. Two women got on and got into a loud conversation — most of us on the bus couldn't help overhearing.

"This one woman was talking about how she was concerned about crime reports, so she had gotten a gun and was ready to shoot anyone who tried to break into her apartment. I thought she sounded more dangerous than the criminals did. I'd have hated to be her meter reader, or her cat!"

"Or her foot," Donna laughed. "If she was as wild as you say, that's what she'd most likely have hit."

"Right," Jim agreed, joining the laughter. "Well," he went on, "then the other woman, who seemed perfectly reasonable and level-headed, said, 'I can't get a gun permit because of the medication I'm taking.' I gather she had some sort of mental illness, and California has some restrictions on licensing guns for people being treated for whatever she had.

"But I remember thinking, the one who isn't being treated is the one who's dangerous!

It's the same idea, isn't it? Whether it's agenda items, or individuals, or issues, the problem we don't recognize is the one that catches us by surprise!"

"Right," Donna affirmed, "and treating every person and every issue as important, no matter what you think at first, goes a long way toward preventing trouble!"

Douglas A. Samuelson is president of InfoLogix, Inc., a consulting company in Annandale, Va. He is also an adjunct professor at The George Washington University.

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