Another Day In Dallas

The Dallas Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly pointed a rifle out of a 6th Story Window and took out JFK with three shots.

Dallas in July. For the past five years, I usually wind up down here right around this time. Last year, it was over 100 F for the two days I was here. This year, it’s “only” been around 97 or 98 — but, yesterday, when I flew down here, it was even worse in DC — mid-90’s temps, but also high humidity, a deadly combination. It’s not quite as humid down here. So, I didn’t mind it quite as much.

I came down to talk to a group of two hundred or so front-line supervisors about the latest updates in the areas I oversee for the agency — Human Resources, Safety, Supply, Motor Vehicles, Physical Security and Contracting. I had my Safety guy with me, so I let him talk to the group about safety issues for the first forty-five minutes, then I took about forty-five minutes or so to go over the rest.

While my staffs prepared a bunch of power point slides for my presentation, I told the group up front that I wasn’t going to go through all the slides — they could use them for reference later, if they wanted — I was here mainly to give them a quick update on issues of concern, but mainly to hear what they had to say about how we’re doing in these areas I’m now responsible for.

Dustin Scarpatti, c/o unsplash.com

I learned a long time ago that there’s nothing worse than having some expert from headquarters come out to one of these gigs to tell you how great they were doing, when the reality of your day-to-day life on the job didn’t square with what they were laying down.

I flipped that script and told them, look, when I came into this position fifteen months ago, things were a real mess, but we’re doing our best to turn it around. I know we’re not there yet. Here’s what we’ve done so far — where are we still missing the mark? Then, I listen. And, believe me, they’re not a shy bunch. They’ll let you know where you’re missing it.

This plays a whole lot better — especially when I’m the only thing standing between them and Happy Hour, or getting the hell out of Dodge and back home. I was the “clean-up hitter” of this weeklong annual meeting, the headliner if you will, the final act.

I like to think, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. While it was an iconic performance, when you looked around at the crowd, they were all wasted and spent, half-dissipated and ready to get the hell out of the mud and the trips and the “three days of fun and music, and nothing but fun and music.”

Little did they know that they were about to witness one of the all-time great performances, including a stupendous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that would be remembered forever.

It was a good session. I got some good questions, and even better suggestions, from the floor, which was what I was shooting for. Of course, folks lined up to talk to me one-on-one afterwards, to tell me all about their own baffling situation or crazy problem related to H.R. We do still have a long way to go to be where I want us to be, in terms of how well we meet our customers needs, and I know it.

View outside my window in DC

In D.C., we are hailed as the best in the Department, and one of the best in government — but, these days, I don’t think that’s saying much. I see the considerable room for improvement, and I see it with a ton of more clarity when I come out to these sessions, and listen.

Our customers know what’s really going on. As I told them, I won’t consider us “there”, until they tell me we’re “there”. And then, if we don’t keep working to improve, we won’t be “there” for long. It’s a continual process of improvement, a challenge that I relish having the opportunity to take on.

I surprised myself, when I was talking about the Field Supply system, when I told them I was going to look at completely overhauling it, rebuilding it from scratch if we have to. As I was sitting there, reviewing my slides during an earlier presenter’s pitch, I had decided I would do that.

Dominic Schroeder, Unsplash.com

About eighteen years ago, when the Supply System was my thing — I had come in to headquarters from the field to set it up, and get it off the ground — I was not happy with how the Department was handling their part of it, so I had gone out and gotten a proposal from the National Industries for the Blind (as they were called, then) for doing it better, and cheaper. At the time, the Department had quickly scrambled to improve their processes, and the powers that be thanked me for putting together the proposal, but decided to keep our business with the Department. I was never happy with that decision.

It occurred to me that now, I am one of those powers that be. I have a new director coming in for that division — I will commission her to go out and get a proposal for doing the supplies better and cheaper, and I’ll convince my new big boss, whoever that is, that it’s a quick win, and will save however many millions of dollars I know it will probably save, and he/or she won’t be able to say no. It’s a no-brainer.

So, I did it, just put it out there, staking my claim to change in a big way. I told them I wasn’t happy with the current system, and was going to change it. I got an immediate standing ovation. That told me that they’re not very happy with it, either. My slides were all about all the things my staff are doing to make the current system work as good as they can make it work.

I didn’t even go through those slides. I told them to refer to them, while we were still using this system, but to stay tuned for the changes to come.

Joshua Earle, Unsplash.com

Sometimes, you just have to commit to an idea in a big way like that, and then follow through on it. I was really glad I came out here, if only for that. I knew I had just created a lot more work for myself, and for my incoming director — but, I also know that, in the end, it will be worth the effort it takes. It’s time to scrap the old, and bring in the new.

Sitting behind my desk (well, lately, I’m usually standing there — I got one of those deal that lets you raise your computer up so you can stand instead of sit behind your desk — I usually stand) in DC, I never would have thought about all of this. It was coming out here, where I’d have to face many of our key customers and look them in the eye, that I realized this system just needs to be overhauled — the bandaids are no longer doing the job. The Department’s gotten too comfortable, too arrogant, and not responsive enough to our needs. It’s time to change that.

The other best part of these trips to Dallas is the meeting after the meeting — I’ll usually go out with a group of eight to twelve folks, which always includes my old friend and colleague, Bill, who goes all the way back to my first day on the job in 1984 with me. We came up in the organization together — he was my boss at one time, when we were still in the region in Philly — and, inevitably, we get talking about some of the characters we worked with up there, and some of the crazy stories from the old days.

It was just part of our day-to-day jobs at the time, but apparently, it makes for entertaining stories on an evening out. That was one crazy group — Seinfeld had nothing on some of the characters we worked with. That’s probably my favorite part of coming out to these meetings. That’s when I realize how much fun this career has really been — and what an honor it’s been to work, all these years, with the likes of my friend, Bill. We are now colleagues, fellow senior executives on the management council, but to each other, we’re just a couple of guys doing our part to make food safe for the American public. We’ve just been blessed with the good fortune to be in positions to have a major impact on how that’s done.

I’m still laughing, thinking about some of the stories, and people, we remembered last night. What a ride it has been!

A gathering place for stories to be told, read and appreciated.

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Hawkeye Pete Egan B.

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