I see that the folks at the O are up in arms about the hiring of outside "management coaches" to help out the top brass at the Oregon state human services department. The outrage is justified. If you need a coach, you shouldn't be managing.
Of course, management coaches are commonplace at the City of Portland. Remember the wild times they had with coaches at the Portland Development Commission toward the end of The Don's reign? Too funny. As I recall, the people who run Fireman Randy's permit bureau have also had coaches, and even Transportation Sue got into the act with one of her mid-level people getting a coach after some kind of trouble or other.
I love that the state's consultants are using the "Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument." I wonder how many times they put that on a state bureaucrat and get a flat-line reading.
Anyway, if government is as broke as it claims to be, then all the management coaches need to be let go, as in yesterday. And if their charges can't handle life without a coach, they need to be shown the door as well.
Comments (11)
How about scrapping all the Hush Money Coaches or retired bureaucrats given juicy consultant contracts keeping them quiet until what they know about skeletons becomes out of date and worthless.
"Anyway, if government is as broke as it claims to be"
The state's not broke, Ted just has an opportunity now to relieve us of those bothersome senior citizens. Besides we don't really need schools either, so those get cut.
Thank god, the bike bridges and streetcars can continue.
In the future, management coaches will become a workplace right for government employees. A government manager must be afforded the opportunity to prove themselves competent to perform their six-figure job under the guidance of a coach. This entitlement will become enshrined in State law.
We start down the wrong path when we assume that public sector employees work in the service of the taxpayer. In fact, it's the other way around: taxpayers serve the public sector. In this context, it's easy to see that management coaching is a nice enhancement to the range of opportunities a public sector position offers for personal lifetime development, capped off with a generous retirement.
Come on Mary.... it's not that different than a lot of private enterprise (the only kinds of employment I've had as an adult) where the saying has long been.... "it's not what you know, it's who you blow".....
At PDX kiddie hall, that may be more apt than some businesses but that saying has been around for decades with good reason
Incompetence is certainly not sector-specific, although in the private sector it eventually gets weeded out by the market whereas in the public sector politics and unions institutionalize it.
"Incompetence is certainly not sector-specific, although in the private sector it eventually gets weeded out by the market whereas in the public sector politics and unions institutionalize it."
Evidence for this culling of the incompetents in the private sector, please?
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 29
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (11)
How about scrapping all the Hush Money Coaches or retired bureaucrats given juicy consultant contracts keeping them quiet until what they know about skeletons becomes out of date and worthless.
Posted by Abe | July 7, 2010 8:35 PM
"Anyway, if government is as broke as it claims to be"
The state's not broke, Ted just has an opportunity now to relieve us of those bothersome senior citizens. Besides we don't really need schools either, so those get cut.
Thank god, the bike bridges and streetcars can continue.
Posted by Steve | July 7, 2010 8:39 PM
This would be funny if it were not so pathetic.
Those deciding to hire the coaches, picking the coaches and then deciding if the coaches were effective are themselves incompetent.
And this editorial board is the same one who when the 1/2 billion state deficit was reported said,
"Oregon suddenly arrives at the edge of the cliff".
This State is saturated with nitwits in positions they should not hold while perfectly rational and competent people are available to replace them.
Unfortunatley there are so many nitiwits in these many postions they defeat replacement.
Posted by Ben | July 7, 2010 10:43 PM
In the future, management coaches will become a workplace right for government employees. A government manager must be afforded the opportunity to prove themselves competent to perform their six-figure job under the guidance of a coach. This entitlement will become enshrined in State law.
Posted by Frank | July 8, 2010 5:39 AM
We start down the wrong path when we assume that public sector employees work in the service of the taxpayer. In fact, it's the other way around: taxpayers serve the public sector. In this context, it's easy to see that management coaching is a nice enhancement to the range of opportunities a public sector position offers for personal lifetime development, capped off with a generous retirement.
Posted by Allan L. | July 8, 2010 7:20 AM
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Zip! Boom! Bah!!!
Spend! Spend! Spend!
We don't care if it's the end!
Posted by portland native | July 8, 2010 7:42 AM
At the City, those that can't get promoted into management. Worst supervisors I have ever experienced.
Posted by Mary Volm | July 8, 2010 7:56 AM
Come on Mary.... it's not that different than a lot of private enterprise (the only kinds of employment I've had as an adult) where the saying has long been.... "it's not what you know, it's who you blow".....
At PDX kiddie hall, that may be more apt than some businesses but that saying has been around for decades with good reason
Go by favoritism....
Posted by LucsAdvo | July 8, 2010 10:50 AM
Actually, I need to ammend one thing... go by quid pro quo
Posted by LucsAdvo | July 8, 2010 10:51 AM
Incompetence is certainly not sector-specific, although in the private sector it eventually gets weeded out by the market whereas in the public sector politics and unions institutionalize it.
Posted by Eric | July 8, 2010 12:08 PM
"Incompetence is certainly not sector-specific, although in the private sector it eventually gets weeded out by the market whereas in the public sector politics and unions institutionalize it."
Evidence for this culling of the incompetents in the private sector, please?
Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | July 8, 2010 11:12 PM