Government and Education

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What exactly does government do?  No, this is not the start of a Libertarian rant, this is a question of what are some of the big building blocks of a modern government as it pertains to education.  My first pass suggests that there are eight, as listed below.  It will be interesting to do some research on each of the blocks in sequence and see if I missed any or included too much in my first pass.

Functions that Are Good for Your Constitution

By way of clarity, this is not a discussion about the philosophy of government, the degree the state should interfere in the economy or the affairs of its citizens or the programs it should (not) provide.  Also, this focuses exclusively on education although I consider education starting at birth and ending with working.  In addition, there is a continuous exit and entry process.  A high school student gets their first job or a middle-age person is laid off and returns to school for re-training.  To this end, I am proposing that there are 8 core functions or enablers of education:

  1. Curriculum: what gets taught.
  2. Delivery & Institutions: who delivers the curriculum.
  3. Registration: who are students being taught.
  4. Results & Performance Management: how was school and is the process of teaching getting better, worse and changing fast enough for the environment.
  5. Certification: how do we know the student passed and how do we assess the veracity of the claim.
  6. Compliance: are the parties involved in the above doing what they are supposed to?
  7. Funding: who pays for all of the above and according to what formulas.
  8. Governance: where does the buck stop.

Limits of Education

Each of the above functions transcend the Education government-function and are found more or less through out the rest of government.  Conversely, there are functions that are absent or implied in the above list that are more prominent in other areas of government.  For example, taxation exists in the Education function, at least in Canada, through property assessments.  However, I will de-emphasize this function mostly because other areas of government perform these tasks on behalf of education (e.g. a ministry of finance). 

As a straw dog and 50,000-foot view, what do you think?  Have I missed a function noting the focus on education or would you remove an element?  Next stop on the school bus, curriculum. 

An Employer’s Ex-db

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Two previous blogs* about the Experience-database (Ex-db) discussed how individuals use this tool to track what they have done to respond to job ads or consulting opportunities.  Can the value be increased with the employer being part of the tracking effort?  For organizations thinking of implementing a talent management tool, creating an interim one based on this thought-exercise can be a useful proof of concept in understanding what information and processes are useful before buying.  

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I Remember When I …

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Discusses utilizing the Experience Database (Ex-db) to record and analyze experiences. It guides users on populating four key tables with their information and introduces job application statuses. Users can generate reports to compare their capabilities with job requirements, enhancing their resume and job application process.

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4C’ing Trust in Your Organization

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In a previous blog I introduced the concept of the 4 Cs: Communication, Coordination, Control & Command. These are management and organizational tools to achieve short- and long-term objectives. They also have their own individual costs, benefits and effectiveness. In this thought exercise I want to focus on the impact the above have on organizational trust.

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The Book of Trust

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In my ongoing effort to remember what I have read, some notes on Stephen M.R. Covey’s book ‘The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything‘.

Not THAT Stephen Covey but the son who is continuing the family tradition of writing. To be honest, this Covey is a better writer than his dad and the Speed of Trust is a good read. The examples are relevant and his personal experiences applying the concepts makes the book very genuine.

There is a lot to the trust model: Trust Taxes and Dividends, Five Waves (starting with the self), 4 Cores of Credibility and 13 Behaviors, whew!

Image courtesy of: http://www.safetymattersblog.com;
MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2019 Culture Insights from The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

The good news is that the book can be distilled down to a few key messages:

The Critical Bits

  1. Trust is Relevant, Tangible and Measurable; it saves money and reduces transaction time (Speed and Cost)
  2. Trust is about Character and Competence, you need both to be trusted.
  3. 4 Cores of Credibility are the foundation factors of Character (1. Integrity, 2. Intent) and Competence (3. Capabilities, 4. Results).
  4. TASKS is a mnemonic to define individual capabilities: Talent, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge & Style).
  5. Trust is found in five waves, your: self (the basis for the 4 Cores noted above), relationships, organization, market & society.
  6. There are 13 behaviors which can be summarized into Character (be a stand up guy – honest, respectful, loyal, etc.), Competence (deliver results, lead and follow well) and a combination of the two (listen, keep commitments and generate trust).
  7. Low-trust organization pay trust taxes in the form of: 1. Redundancy, 2. Bureaucracy, 3. Politics, 4. Disengagement, 5. Turnover, 6. Churn (employee, sales), 7. Fraud.
  8. High-trust organizations receive dividends: 1. Value, 2. Growth, 3. Innovation & Collaboration, 4. Execution, 5. Loyalty.

A Little More Summary

If you don’t want to read the book but want more details, the following document courtesy of Soundview Executive Book Summaries provides the highlights of the book. A Google search will lead to results and other summaries.

© 2006 Soundview Executive Book Summaries • All rights reserved. Download

A Trusty Model

Although I think there are too many moving parts in the model for it to be practical the underlying principles are sound. Trust saves money, generates income, supports efficient and effective people/family/organizations/ societies and quite frankly is always preferable to a non-trusting environment.

The 1 sentence summary: trust greases the wheels of organizations, families and societies; it is a function of Character and Competence ; trust is built up over a lifetime and can be lost in an instant.

Smallwood – Big Read

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Most Canadians know who Joey Smallwood is, the first premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Richard Gwyn, one of Canada’s pre-eminent popular historians, book on Smallwood lists his triumphs and his failures.  Gwyn’ makes you wish you had known Smallwood and realize that characters such that can no longer exist in your hyper-connected world.

SMALLWOOD: THE UNLIKELY REVOLUTIONARY by Richard Gwyn, February 17, 2015

A Practical Socialist and Politician

Smallwood called himself a socialist and spent much of his early years on one failed social project or another in Newfoundland and a brief stint in New York city.  By his middle age, and after the Second World War, he seemed to have missed his chance to make his mark in the world despite having hosted a widely popular Newfoundland based radio program.

However, timing is everything, and just after the war Newfoundland was given an opportunity to regain its ability to self-govern or join Canada (joining the United States was another possibility  but lacked a champion).  In this campaign, Joseph Smallwood became Joey a likable buffoon with cat-like political instincts.

Needless to say Joey won the referendum (the second one actually) and Newfoundland joined Canada.  He then went onto to become one of Canada’s longest-serving premiers until his election loss in 1972 (23 years in office).  More than just a provincial politician, Joey played key roles in the Canadian Federal Liberal scene and was an intimate of St. Laurent, Pearson and Trudeau.

Impractical Schemes, Graft and Churchill Falls

Smallwood was a man of his times and Gwyn paints a sympathetic albeit tragic portrait of the man.  Newfoundland had a small war chest on joining Canada and Joey proceeded to use the money in (mostly) misguided attempts to industrialize the province.  While there were some successes in iron ore mining and paper mills, most would now be considered busts including his crown jewel – the Churchill Falls Hydroelectric station.

In addition, some of the associates and government ministers re-directed government resources for their own benefit.  Despite this temptation and Joey looking the other way, Smallwood did not enrich himself during his time in office – but others did.  These others are part of a cast of characters that Smallwood associated with in order to achieve his objective of industrialization.

A Book 3-Decades in the Writing

This book was initially published in 1968 just as Smallwood had announced his (first) retirement and then was updated 1972 after he retired for a second (and last) time after his election loss.  Gwyn re-issued it twice in 1999 (8 years after Smallwood’s death) and most recently in 2015.  In many ways reading a book written and revised over 3-Decades is almost as interesting as the core subject matter.  Gwyn does not fully update the text but does tease out some individuals for special mention who went on to greater things such as John Crosbie or Rex Murphy.

In the end, a good read about an interesting character, a period in Canada of significant change and our newest and most easterly province – Newfoundland.