You know those memories that stick with you in your mind for whatever reason? You can look back and envision where you were and what was said, something that was profound enough that years later you can still replay the scenario in your head over and over? Well this is one of mine...
I was sitting among my co-workers at our weekly meeting, held Wednesday's at 9 AM. Seated at the table were myself, our accountant/book keeper, our installer, and the president and vice president. We were discussing sales goals, deadlines, customer issues, basic stuff for our Wednesday meetings. Then the president asked "who was going to handle X???" It wasn't a massive issue to resolve, but it had been an on going issue that needed to be resolved once and for all. The VP said, "we'll take care of it", to the dismay of the president. Not what he wanted to hear. "We'll take care of it."
What's so bad about that answer? The problem will get taken care of, so why the big fuss from the president??? What the president said after that has stuck with me to this day...
The problem with WE, is that there is no accountability for failure. Surely if there was success, an individual would stand and take credit, but with we, there is plenty of blame to pass around in case of failure. "It wasn't my job!" And there in lies the crux of the issue. Not one person was specifically in charge of said responsibility.
So the president looked at all of us around the table and said, "who is going to own this?"
Oh snap.
Ownership. Responsibility. Fail or succeed. Accountability lies at the feet of an individual.
So then, it should come as no surprise when centralized powers/governments, use such broad terms as we & us when describing issues and problems that plague their monopolized territories.
When centralized powers fail, there is no accountability. None. Zip. Nada. Perhaps an individual will take the fall for a certain failure, but the beast keeps moving. It's like chopping off an octopus' tentacles, only to see it grow back. Or in this case, replacing one form of centralization for another. There are fingers to point ad nauseam.
Decentralization puts power back into the individuals hands. That's not to say that every individual will act noble and just, but that regardless of their actions, good or bad, they alone bear the fruit of the seed they planted.
No finger pointing allowed.
