Doing and Not Doing

Marcus Aurelius famously quipped “A wrongdoer is often a person that has left something undone, not always that they have done something.” Your personal accountability is associated with actions taken, and also those not yet taken (apologies, closure, conversations). When contemplating what to do to right a situation, think about both sides of the doing scenario.

What changes, What stays the same

A colleague of mine recently posted that they discovered a 1930s/1940s vintage City Manager’s writings.  In further researching, he was a legend of the profession, probably in the mold of LP Cookingham and some early stalwarts. What surprised the researcher friend, was a fact from that period - the average tenure of a City Manager was less than 3 years.  Gasp!  You mean that 2026 rising incivility and the challenges of the STP and life in the public fish bowl nowadays ISN’T worse (as an influence on tenure) like all the pundits want you to think it is?  More people read news now. People follow Google and LinkedIn and so forth, way more than they used to.  So news of departures and resignations is more widespread and ubiquitous.  Secondly, media is also instantaneous now, so you see it quicker and also in various, multiplied vehicles. Thirdly, we do have social media now and there is for certain “amplification” there.  Fourth, there may be some rising incivility as certain decorum factors and public / social compacts erode. That all being said, I would love to see research on this to confirm.  Even with all of this, tenure levels are not that bad.  And some are state/region/position dependent, it would seem. And how many are pull factors, e.g. self-actualized decisions to move on in search of more money, or a better place, or a move related to spouse / partner concerns?  Those are not necessarily separated in these news items on tenure.

Trips

There is something about traveling and trips, paradoxically, that makes one appreciate the origin place, home, even more. You anticipate the trip and have fun and enjoy the new experiences. In my most recent case, it was a city I had never been to before, for a family wedding. A few days later, we are back home.  It’s our comfort area and the place we raised our family. It’s also where we choose to live, when we have choices and options. Going away on vacations, both small and big, is something we enjoy - and each one makes us appreciate where we live, a little more so each time.

If not now, when?

I was talking recently with a 45 year old municipal manager, who lacked an MPA, but always wanted to get one. She said to me - “it might take me five years to get it done, while working full time and juggling parent duties, too. I will be 50 when I am done!” So I said, how old will you be in five years if you don’t pursue the Masters?” She got the joke and took it in stride.

Interview Techniques

This is a post about the side of the interviewer. First, it’s not an inquisition, it’s a conversation. There should not be attempts at “gotcha” exercises, though you do want to keep them on their feet, so to speak. It should be friendly, conversational and a “get to know you” type two-way dialogue. In terms of questions and themes, obviously you want to get to the themes of the positions and key competencies and goals/actions/initiatives and tease those out throughout the set of questions. But it’s important to focus on specificity. What did the candidate themselves do? Specifically, individually and with cited examples. Save the hypotheticals for philosophy class. Get down to the nitty gritty and pry open the candidate’s resume and work experience in real-time.

Aspirations

Aiming high is not wacky or out of place in public administration. Realism should counter idealism, yes, but nay-saying should not entirely neutralize “big, hairy, audacious goals.” You tend to do better and improve performance and better community, when you have lofty aspirations.

Checking in

Recently, I received two terrible news items. 1, a longtime co-worker at the County where I was Administrator for many years, passed away in his 50s. 2, an individual I was connected with lost his battle with cancer, and was much, much too young. In both instances, you have death, despair, and an initial feeling of hopelessness. After the shock, you pause and you think - you just never know. You have to live each day to the fullest. You have to check in on people without an excuse or need to do so. You have to embrace and maximize each day. You need to, and I know this one is hard, stay and remain “in the moment” and be present. And get off your phone and get in nature and talk to people and build community. We owe it to the legacies of those whose tomorrows were cut short.

Contemplation

Reading a book recently, a passage really struck me. It was an anecdote in a non-fiction business book on hiring and interviewing. The story was about a European. The individual commented, about his experiences in the US, and noted “you Americans are great at a of things but you’re not good at just stopping and contemplating.” He was juxtaposing the seemingly always-on US culture and rush and no relaxation with the pausing, chatting, contemplating, relaxing, restful nature of his ways. Do we need to be better in this area? Do you?

Talk

There is an old Chinese proverb that goes something like “Talk doesn’t cook rice.”  Actions speak louder than words because actions matter.  Acts produce change, progress, activities, initiatives and development - both personally and professionally.  Talk, and thinking, is just observation and contemplation. Good, and helpful?  Yes.  But I want to see your talk become effectuated, for you to execute satisfactorily on your words.

Career

I used to do a County Government 101 presentation to high-school seniors in our county, and asked all of them "what's next for you?" in terms of careers/workforce. I told them it would be hard to stump me with a field that did not have relevance/applicability to the county. And on they went and I answered - public safety (you can be a Sheriff); art therapist (come work for County Mental Health); I want to be a nurse (we have openings at the nursing home); heavy equipment (highway worker) and so on. One kid tried to be the cool guy and say "cannabis farmer" to some laughs from the class, to which I responded "well, we have economic development that assists small businesses and ag is the #1 industry in our county." Moral of the long story - especially with county governments due to their size and breadth of service provision - it's really easy to find rewarding career options in the public sector that align well with a multitude of passions and interests.

Default vs Design

I have written about intentionality recently, including getting past autopilot (cue Airplane) and also living life in a mindful manner. How many times do we go about decision-making vs default versus design? Ask yourself - are you regularly in a mode of automation and autopiloting your activities versus specifically and intentionally designing your actions your days, and so forth. Take even an average day — are you designing your day or going through the motions on cruise control? Take one step. Journal in the morning or map out each day, on the hour, the night before. Bonus/even better: do both.

Ecosystem

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the local government management and public administration “ecosystem.” By definition, an ecosystem is a community of people, organizations, and institutions that work together and depend on one another to thrive. A City Manager works in partnership with a City Council; a software solutions provider depends on local government clients; an intergovernmental partner connects organizations and makes referrals—and so on. Each plays a distinct role, but none operates entirely on its own.

Pracademic Partners fits neatly into this ecosystem. As a category of one, we provide essential consulting services, technical assistance, mentorship, coaching, teaching, recruitment, and training to the organizations and individuals we partner with.

The relationship is inherently reciprocal. Without our partners’ needs, challenges, and desire to engage with us, we don’t have a business. And without our subject-matter expertise, practical experience, and white-glove approach to service, many of those partners would be left searching for solutions to important problems and challenges.

That interdependence is what makes the ecosystem work—and it’s what makes our role within it both valuable and meaningful.

Suffering

I was discussing misfortune and bad news (on the work front) recently with a coaching client. They were upset and, frankly, not handling the news well. I reminded them that suffering is not punishment. It’s insightful. It builds armor and resilience. We need to develop what I call distress tolerance in these types of circumstances.

Grandparents

An article in this week’s WSJ, indicates that studies show active grandparenting has positive, tangible, spillover effects for the grandparent in areas like mental and physical health. News flash - “successful” aging (successful in the eye of the beholder, but in this case defined as having meaning, living longer and vibrant lives over 60), always comes back to a few things. Involvement in community or passions/interests. Friendships and kinship. And activities, like physical fitness and being outside and in nature and taking walks. Even for those of us not quite there on the age spectrum, these are also worthy and imitable character traits to possess as one ages. The gains for mental health and overall well-being are clear.

Contentment

I have written about this previously "but “bumping up” as the young’ns say, for this posting. A mentor of mine once said “don’t leave a good party in search of a great party.” He said this in relation to job moves. Sometimes, often times, the grass indeed is not greener. As someone who does recruitment as part of their regular work, it does seem that there is a lot of general contentment out there. People are not apt to move and disrupt what is a good family, career, and/or “lifestyle” situation, in search of something that “might” be better. That’s the risk of the unknown.

Sandwich

I have written before about sandwiches. No, I am not hungry all the time. The last instance was a blog post on the art of the response in an interview. First piece, meat of the matter, and second piece/closure. I thought recently about the sandwich generation. Those with younger but getting older kids (think college age) and parents who are aging and in need of more services care, and attention. In a recent coaching call with a client, I paused to reflect on a third sandwich reference, related to this second one, and that is those in the workplace with ~20 years. They see the younger crop of next-gen folks entering in and their norms, tendencies, etc. They see the retiring-soon co-workers riding off into the sunset. They’re worried about the loss of institutional knowledge on the retirements and a little worried about culture changes and evolving work-habits of the new employees. They’re the middle of this work generational challenge sandwich and often they struggle.

Back from a Hiatus

I guess I took a few week “blog-cation” from this page. Let’s get back to it!

Sometimes, a simple thank you goes a long way. If there is even a hesitation to express gratitude, and you are teetering on whether to bother, err on the side of taking action. So many times we assume others will thank the person, we don’t know how it will be received, we think we do not have the time, we do not know how exactly we might articulate the thankful message, and so forth. To that I say - who cares! While I am Brooks fan, follow Nike’s advice this time - and just do it!

Politeness

There was an article in this weekend’s WSJ regarding a company with razor-thin approval/acceptance rates of job applicants. Well, maybe thinner than a razor. Less than a tenth of 1 %. One thing caught my eye though - their screening assessment / will they stay and succeed down the road “test” = Are they polite? When I preach and teach customer service excellence I always mention this impact on staffing and service. It doesn’t cost much to be polite but it can be very costly if you are impolite.

On Birthdays and Reflections

The US of A just celebrated our nation’s 250th birthday. There were many a reflection and commentary on how far we have come as a country, and what still challenges us and confounds us. A grand experiment, in occasional need of refinement is what the pundits mostly say. Is that not what we all are? As we celebrate our own birthdays, such occasions represent a time of pause, of contemplation, of resets, of memories, etc.

Professional Development

As many people in the profession of public administration make it a point to better themselves professionally, I ask - what is the best form?  In person?  Online?  Mix? Group?  1:1?  Self-paced? What about subject-matter - finance?  HR?  Leadership? Work-life stuff? Communication?  Amount - a little or a lot?   Blocked or periodically scheduled on the regular? The answer is -  it depends on the person as each individual tends to learn differently.