Changing the Status Quo

Perhaps life is all about change.  As we age our interests change, friends change, our bodies certainly change.  Generally, change brings on a feeling of loss.  What was--is no more.  Our imperfect memories tend to only remember the good times in the past.  The future is uncertain and to be feared.  If only we can hang on to what we have today and avoid having to "change" again.

 

A quote I came across recently highlights the difficulty of making organizational changes when the culture and processes have been in place for a long time.  “Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lot its status.”  Laurence J. Peter  

 

Which brings me to the article on how the Milwaukee Police Department's Chief of Police is under fire for the "changes" he has made in the department.  See Judgment Call and how what is measured has been changed which means resources have been redeployed to meet a new way of doing things.  Chief Ed Flynn should be commended for trying something new.  If you keep doing what you were doing--nothing will change.  Faced with decreasing resources he is looking to take his own "Whole Community" approach to policing and how services are delivered.  

 

As we look to "change" how we deliver emergency management services remember that there will be detractors who think their ox is being gored.  Plow through with a smile!