The Buck Stops Here
In 1757, Montcalm, Governor of New France, sent three copies of his report to King Louis XV. One copy for three different ships going to France; insurance against possible shipwrecks, enemy action and privateers. A lot could happen on the North Atlantic on voyages that took weeks and weeks.
All we do today is press “send”, all done in split seconds.
The impact of rapid communication is a hot topic as communicators and social scientists study about how to manage the constant flow of data and what is true etc.
One issue, mostly unexamined, is how 24/7 communication impacts on decision making and responsibility.
Montcalm, generals and officials, over countless generations and civilizations, along with “marching orders”, received the authority to make decisions and take responsibility on the spot.
Today the tendency is to push the decisions up the line. Sometimes by corporate design, but often, one suspects, to avoid responsibility if things go wrong. The trend is toward centralized decision making in the hands of a few corporate CEOs, by the staff in our Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the advisers in the Whitehouse and Downing Street etc.
To act responsibly new files are opened, professional advisers are contacted and consultations must be held with people on the spot. . . . Well, you get the picture: there is a natural, permanent structured process that delays, and often blocks, needed actions. All done by everyone ‘doing their job’! And, thus it follows, ‘No one is really responsible for anything.
It is an important factor in the complaints we have these days about our modern democracies. Maybe it’s time to get things done by going back to the time honoured practice of giving people authority and responsibility.