Lining things out (we need a plan, Stan)

I was visiting with a friend who used to totally support the commission and is now supporting its sunset. Why? Because my friend sees what was supposed to be an Indian commission as nothing more than a “recognition commission” and opposes four or more people sitting on it as unaware of Indian people and/or Indian issues. We talked about all the pros and cons if it survived, then if it didn’t survive. We talked about what went wrong in the first place, and my friend had a valid point.

Before any other issue was addressed, the commissioners should have done one very critical thing. They should have come up with at least an outline of what goals they hoped to accomplish over a period of five years. My great-uncle called it “lining things out.”

In all fairness, they didn’t have much of a choice. Demands from and expectations of the Public combined with with the personal aspirations of four individuals and created a quagmire.

To quote Tammy Wynette, “Hindsight’s a fool’s point of view.” You can’t change the past. The best hope is to be honest about any failings, plan corrective actions for those, and try to forecast any future obstacles

The opportunity to do that is now. The commission is at a turning point. There is one meeting left before the Sunset Review. The commission needs an action plan to use as a building block for the next 5 years.

There are

• 10 “duties” of the commission.
• 4 meetings regular per year.
• 7 commission seats currently ^[1]
• Some commissioners’ interests don’t match their skill or expertise.
• Some commissioners’ interests may be personal more than serving the larger community.
• A committee that never meets is not valid. It’s useless.

1. View the commission as a business.
2. View and categorize the duties as if they were departments in the business (i.e. human resources, research & development, supply & distribution, marketing & sales, finance & accounting, etc.).
3. Assign accordingly.
4. Charge the commissioners to keep up with, assist, advise, and sponsor the work of any individuals or groups relevant to their assignments.

This is not reinventing the wheel. Some of these things are already in play through formation or grassroots creation of single purpose entities like the legislative review committee (a commission committee devoid of commissioners) and the Alliance (grassroots), multi-purpose entities like ACTIA (grassroots), and entities like Tennessee American Indian Research Initiative (grassroots) that can be re-purposed after completing a task as long as the repurposing involves research.

Other ideas have been presented (most were voted down) that could be reconsidered and brought into play as well. Still others are waiting to be heard (possibly intimidated by past performances or personalities) or discovered (reading is fundamental! What are they doing elsewhere and is it possible to do it here? Does it inspire a different idea altogether?). Some might seem like baby steps or inconsequential, but baby steps lead to bigger steps and a block of inconsequentials adds up to compromise a larger sum.

The thing is, what the commission has been doing has worked, but not as well as it should. It’s time to pause a moment, take a deep breath, say “oooohhhm” or whatever brings you back to the center, and regroup. My suggestion for a formal strategic plan is located here.

1. recognition of any groups under the current.

First order of business

Distribute duties 2 through 9 across the first 3 meetings. Duty 1 is ongoing, Duty 10 is as needed and would require special called meetings. Use fourth meeting to review progress, write annual report, and plan the next go-round.

Second order of business

Dump the committees and assign oversight of “duties” based on commissioners’ skills first, then interests.

• Commission committees are law-locked. ((Two or more commissioners and committees of the commission become extensions of the commission that cannot meet without public notice, making arrangements for a public meeting place, and excessive travel at their own expense [<< Back]