"This but not that." "Someday." These are the last five words in a recent Op Ed piece by David Brooks of the New York Times. The title of the piece was "The Paralysis of the State" and essentially deals with why government at all levels is so broken. Not something that comes as news to anyone.

What Brooks was pointing out with these last five words was simply to remind readers of the enormous price we all pay if we are part of something where there is a lack of leadership. Of the many examples cited in the article, perhaps the epidemic of unfunded public pension programs is as good as any in demonstrating what happens when the political will is not there to say this but not that.

Brooks also has a quote in the piece by former head of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. George Meany who said it is "impossible to bargain collectively with government." It made me smile, as I recalled that in a former life I was actually the Director of Labor Relations for a city that had eight unions not counting the teachers. It was a good thing that I was too young at the time to realize what I was really getting into, but suffice it to say, it didn't take me long to understand what Mr. Meany was talking about.

To state the obvious, in the private sector there is incentive on both sides to try and come to a settlement. In the public sector the pressure on those representing government is far greater than the pressure on the union, and the result is, among other things, unfunded pension plans and other benefits that no private employer could make.

Without leadership that has the will to say "this but not that" what we get is leadership that says "I can make this go away and leave the problem for someone else."

As noted at the outset, the last word in this piece is "someday." If you take the time to read the whole article, I wonder if others will, like me, be trying to figure out if "someday" means:

We may get lucky and a leader will come along to change this self-destructive culture; or


• All this will come to a halt because we'll simply be bankrupt or
  
  
• Those of us who are asked to pay for all this will actually be the ones to say "this but not that" at enough ballot boxes so as "the public" we will force those we have placed in the public sector to actually commit to those things that really are in the public interest.

Dave Opton
Dave Opton founded ExecuNet in 1988 to provide a trusted environment where senior-level executives could build career opportunities by facilitating connections to other executives, experts and key market insights. Dave has drawn upon his 35 years of experience in human resources to develop and grow what has become the leading business and career membership network for executives and senior managers. A widely recognized executive career management expert, Dave is regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company, and other leading business publications. Mr. Opton received his BA from Indiana University. Dave blogs at Six Figure Learnings

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