On the way to work this morning I thought about manuals and handbooks guiding the professional lives of my brothers and sisters. First I tried to imagine my folk singer brother relying on a manual and handbook for his gigs. Horrible thought! Then I thought about my artist sister relying on a manual and handbook for her landscapes and other works. No better! Then I thought about my investment banker brother relying on a manual and handbook in moving money around the bond markets of the world. Nope! Then I thought of my brother-in-law managing a large county mental health program. No manual and handbook there either. Finally I thought of my small-business-entrepreneur sister and brother. I couldn’t imagine them relying on a manual and handbook either.
So I switched gears. How about my medical practitioners? How about my financial advisors? And so on. The only ones I could imagine following closely a plan would be house and general construction contractors. But here too there is no "manual and handbook."
Lastly, I thought about other aspects of my professional life. During the decade and a half I spent in city government I don’t think we ever felt naked without manuals and handbooks, although we did have our share of ordinances, building codes, laws, and what not. During the short time I spend in the corporate offices at Weyerhauser Corp. I don’t remember seeing people consulting manuals and handbooks at every turn.
A question lingers: Why is it that the Forest Service tries to reduce ALL to manual and handbook directives? Why would anyone try to reduce the art of strategic thinking, strategic planning to manual and handbook directives? Have we bought into some fallacies regarding how the world works? Is this ‘normal’ government practice? Maybe. But maybe that’s why there is so much pressure to outsource.
When I first saw the Prototype Plan teams playing with new ideas on planning I said to myself, “Finally, we have escaped our rational planning, control freak mentalities.” But my relief was short-lived. First came the NFMA rule to shatter my hopes and dreams. Then came the Manual and Handbook directives. So now once-again it is likely to be:
Back the inner sanctum of the bureaucracy! Keep your eyes on the manuals and handbooks and try to remember that somewhere ‘out there’ there are forest and trees and birds and fish and other charismatic megafauna (along with the many other creatures great and small). Mark Twain called these other creatures the higher animals. I wonder if he met some goverment planners who helped him draw that conclusion?
Don’t dwell on what it might take to manage ourselves and other humans and our relationships with what we call “Nature.” Instead, manage the Manuals and the Handbooks and see if there is any time left to think about land, and natural and social systems workings. If there happens to be any time left over, be sure use it to build ever-more-complex manuals and handbooks.
To get a feel for exactly how the Manuals and Handbooks (and the mentality that creates them) helps, I recommend that you read or re-read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron.”
Comments