In managing any activity whether a sports team, a hair salon, a butcher shop or an entire country, those in charge (the management) depend on data/information on which they make decisions. Daily decisions are the stuff that good days ahead are based upon. In order to make a good decision managers need good information. I doubt that I will have any opposition to that.
I am convinced that most managers who often are also business owners are well intended and want to succeed for themselves, their families, their customers and employees. This is a very pro-survival viewpoint. But sadly, my experience also suggests that their are managers who do not have the best of intentions. Some are selfish seeking personal gain. Some are just biding time for a better opportunity. Some are incompetent and incapable of seeing themselves in that way. And yes, some are just evil bastards hell bent on destruction.
The way Board of Directors whether composed of 1, 12 or 50 members determines if their CEO is doing a good job of bringing value to the company and its shareholders is by results. Results are measured by statistics. A statistic is a quantitative representation of some particular area of activity. Sports fans know about a player's statistics like batting average or yards run. They can pretty well sum up a players as being good or just a bum. A baseball player who gets a multi million dollar salary but bats just .200 might be a bum. But an average salaried player who hits .400 is a quiet star. Statistics separate fact from fiction, rumor from truth. A manager of any activity must have truth statistics collected and presented for his evaluation or he will soon be someone else's dinner.
When I ran my Engineering companies, I had a standing and well disseminated official policy that reporting false statistics is cause for firing. A false statistic blindsides managers and decisions made using them can ruin a company. So why would anyone issue a false statistic?
The obvious answer is to simply cover up a bad statistic and perhaps make him or herself look much better than they really are. This is one reason that there is often a level of supervision or on the spot management responsible for gathering, verifying and presenting the statistics needed. This can be very effective in eliminating false statistics. But even this level can false report and for the same obvious reasons. There can be other reasons too like a dedicated spy. Believe me, it can and does happen. Or the incompetent manager/worker who must hide the real scene out of fear. And of course, false statistics are the bread and butter of the truly dangerous and even insane who thrive on destroying the good efforts of others.
So why am I telling you all this? And what is it that I favor?
In our Country and most others around the globe, the head executive like a President or Chancellor or Prime Minister is fed a lot of data. He or she uses that data to steer policies which presumably are intended to help the country better succeed. The sources of data can be many and they are all subject to the same types of well intended, incompetent and evil people. And you bet that some of them will false report. In fact, in some systems the false reporting is systemic and designed to give the impression of success when none is present or worse when failure looms. Some smaller forms of government have developed a solution by making the Political head less likely to seek and support false reporting by hiring and installing a business manager. This in cities is called a City Manager. It has some corollaries in larger governments too. The Secretary level managers in the US Government are meant to be such managers but they are more political than a hired hand getting appointed and many are not at all fit for the job. These types are easily corrupted or easily close their eyes to the corruption of others if it serves them. We get a lot of false data from these big departments and it is fully intended to make them look good and keep the bad stuff from leaking out. This gets exaggerated at times of elections. But is can also happens on a day to day basis. It is in my opinion a crime and should be punished not only by firing but by imprisonment. A false statistic at this high level can destroy a nation given leave to continue.
This and for other reasons, I support a National Manager whose only concerns are to ensure that adequate and true statistics are gathered and reported so that the President and Congress can act accordingly and assuming they are well intended steer the country toward greater and greater success. Without this position we might occasionally get someone in charge who is sharp and rejects false data even if it enhances their political status. We currently do not have such a person leading the USA. It is a rare find but they do exist. Unfortunately, the populace who vote in our leaders have a tough time discerning who would do a good job and by the time they are hungry or can't afford heat it is too late. We have never had an Impeachment for accepting or proliferating false data. In fact, just about every press conference I see is filled with it. And yet, no one is held accountable. A Country Manager like the City manager could be the answer. They being employees can easily be fired for false reporting. So who would find out about the false reporting? Well, that is one of the jobs of a functioning media. yes yes, I know, we do not have one. But we could have any number of Citizen run groups who coordinate to verify statistics. We have some now. If false reporting was designated as an impeachable act and subject to criminal prosecution, why after a few trials and sentences this practice would chill. In my wildest moments I seem to even like the idea of it being a TREASONOUS act subject to the death penalty. But a political death is good enough. False report and you're out.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics false reports all the time. Chop a few heads and this could stop. Factual, truthful reporting would go a long way to restoring trust. Wall street is in on the fix so they might not like this idea. Too bad. The People are this country not Wall Street Fat Cats. Believe me, they do not think of themselves as the People but ABOVE the people. This whole gang hangs out in Davos.
Yes, there can be disagreement on which sources are the best to get true data but applying an old management adage gives the answer. The closer a manager is to the activity being measured, the more accurate the reports will be.
I support a National Manager. Hell, I'll even nominate myself.
Best,
Donn Marier
DM-Your Own CFO