who managed, among other things, the New York City Health Services Administration, argued that line managers need to recognize that governments have three kinds of overhead systems: flexible systems, routinized systems and rigid systems. Moreover, continued Chase, in “coping with the overheads” the line manager needs to recognize with which kind of system he or she is dealing. Each requires a different strategy.1 So what kind of budgetary system does Zenith City have?
If you are dealing with a budget system that is highly routinized, you should be very careful to fill out all the forms correctly — and honestly. A budget director who has created a routinized system cares, primarily, that you follow the formal rules. Do so. This budget director will appreciate your cooperation in making bureaucratic life easier.
If you are dealing with a budget system that is quite flexible, you should abide by the spirit of the city’s need to cut its budget both this year and next. Thus, you should have a chat with the budget director, explaining how you are managing to reduce expenditures, how you are keeping your department functioning as best it can, and how you are imposing as few costs as possible on the future. This budget director will appreciate your cooperation in managing your department in the best interests of the city.
If you are dealing with a budget system that is rigid, you need to recognize that (in Gordon Chase’s words) “sensible tactics may not work.” Instead, you are faced with a “guerrilla war.” Consequently, you need to “staff up for the fight, commit personal time and energy to the battle” and “become a masterful tactician of circumvention and satisficing.”2 (The late Nobel Prize winner Herbert Simon coined the word satisficing to describe how people really behave, as opposed to how economists theorize that they behave.)
But as the director of Zenith City’s Department of Public Works, you are dealing with a budget system that is worse than rigid. It is arbitrary. So if you care about the future of the city’s infrastructure, you will have to commit your time and energy to devising and implementing an overall strategy that combines clever guerrilla tactics with a continual artillery barrage.
It’s time to fight. If you want to protect the existing and future infrastructure of Zenith City, you will have to fight for it — and fight hard. Otherwise, your department could easily absorb more than your “fair” share of the budget cuts and the budget pain, undercutting the thoughtful preparations you made during the first nine months. And you well recognize that deferring much needed street maintenance will cost the city a bundle when, in a few years, it has to rebuild )rather than just continue to maintain) its streets. So don’t be a wooss. Fight!
And let’s face it: Rangstrom is inconsistent and despotic. All she cares about is balancing the budget. Indeed, she seems to be savoring this latest “opportunity” to enhance her image as a tough bureaucrat.
Moreover, Rangstrom is a pro at budget-cutting politics. If she can find a way to carve more than 5 percent out of your department’s budget for the current year (or more than 15 percent of out your next year’s budget), she will. For if she can get a bigger cut from you, she’ll have created for herself some future slack for dealing with some well organized constituency; then when she starts getting some off-the-record phone calls from some well connected citizens or powerful members of the city council, she’ll have the ability to make some equally quiet compromises.
Tactic One:
Explain the Costs to Anyone Who Will Listen
Budget cuts aren’t free. In particular, budget cuts aren’t free to the city’s citizens. Eventually, they will have to pay for these cuts. You have a civic responsibility to ensure that everyone understands this reality. So take your case to any audience that will listen.
Whenever you testify before the city council, make sure that you explain the long-term implications. Do the same whenever you chat with a councilor.
But to really get your message out, you have to take the initiative. You may not be in big demand on the lecture circuit. Still, many organizations are always looking for speakers. And although the director of public works may not bring out a big crowd, you could entice some people by titling your remarks: “The Long-Term Costs of the City’s Budget Crisis.” So offer to address every organization in the city — from the Lion’s Club to high-school civics classes.
But your most important audience will be the editorial board of the Zenith City Tribune. They will be a tough sell. After all, these are the guys who have failed to comprehend the simple mathematics that converts a 5-percent cut in annual expenditures imposed at the beginning of the final quarter into a 20-percent cut for that quarter. Nevertheless, you need to talk to them. And you need to do it soon — before the paper publishes another editorial that is even higher off the left-field wall.
As in all your presentations, you need to focus on the “facts.” You need to explain the economic forces driving the budget cuts. You need to explain the reality of the budgetary crisis. Only then can you begin to talk about the future long-term costs of managing the short-term cuts badly.
In these talks, you can’t wander too far from the official position. If you are to critical of the city’s budget strategy, Rangstrom will punish you. But you can be factual. If you just explain the “facts,” you can insulate yourself against retaliation (though, of course, Rangstrom gets to play by her own rules).
Tactic Two:
Rally Your Constituents
Everyone complains about the potholes, but no one does anything about them. Still there must be some people who care personally or economically about Zenith City’s streets. They may be the leaders of the Downtown Business Association, who recognize that the city’s streets are further encouraging shoppers to head for suburban malls. They may be those at Chamber of Commerce who worry that the city has been losing the competition for new industry to Nadir Valley.
Whomever these people are, you need to present them with more than a just-the-facts luncheon speech. You need to rally their explicit backing. You need to meet with them — in small groups and one-on-one — and ask for their personal and organizational support. You don’t know exactly when or how you will need it. You may want the head of an organization to testify before the city council. You may want a friend to call the mayor. You may need someone to write a letter to the editor. Or you may not. Nevertheless, you need to build your coalition now. Later, if someone thinks that the Department of Public Works needs to take more than its 5-percent fair share, you will have the allies to quickly and quietly deter that kind of thinking.
Tactic Three:
Don’t Divulge Your Secrets
You’ve thought ahead. You’ve managed your department wisely. You’ve put your organization in a position to absorb the required cuts without seriously damaging your ability to carry out your mission. Sure, you won’t be able to cut expenditures by 20 percent in the last three months without some pain. But your department will suffer much less than a lot of others.
Don’t gloat. Don’t even let on that you might have something to gloat about. After all, if your department is experiencing less pain that others, some people may insist on even more “fairness.” They may insist that your department should — just to be fair — have to cut its last-quarter expenditures by more than 20 percent.
So be quiet. Go about your business. Whenever someone complains that the cuts are unfair, agree. Whenever someone complains that the cuts are impossible, agree. Don’t let on to anyone that your organization has managed to avoid as much pain as others — unless, that is, you and your department need more pain.
And try to avoid giving the budget bureau too much information. Eventually, they will have the data to know how you survived the final quarter. But you ought to be able to keep them off your back for a few months while you minimize the pain. After all, they have many other departments to keep on track, and if you have managed to establish a reputation as someone who always has your budget numbers under control, they’ll devote most of their available hours to other agencies. Only later will they figure out that they could have shifted a lot more of the cutbacks (and a lot more of the pain) to your department.
Tactic Four:
Do Your Share, But Nothing More
Yes, you do have to cut your budget. Yes, you are obligated to cut your last quarter’s expenditures by 20 percent. Yes, you are bound to cut next year’s expenditures by 15 percent. That’s reasonable. But you don’t have to bear someone else’s burden.
In particular, just because you’ve recognized the financial trends and acted on them, you are not required to help out those negligent agency directors who failed to prepare their organization for the inevitable. If some of the city’s agency directors lack the prescience to run their agencies, the solution is not to punish the competent. The answer is to get rid of the bunglers.
So do your share. But fight hard to ensure that you aren’t forced to absorb anyone else’s share.
To see responses posted by other readers, click here.
