Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Methods vs. Results
In a prior post I touched on the issue of “Methods vs. Results” as it related to the Trump presidency. Like most successful businessmen, he is directed primarily toward results. While his critics may often have lofty end goals, their obsessions are for applying a host of cumbersome methods and punitive legislation which, in significance, often override any end goal they may have.
Most of my appraisals are strongly colored by a philosophical template that sees manifestation occurring within the bounds of archetypes replicating as fractal-like constructs. Be it plant growth, family dynamics, economics, or political developments, the universe seems to have some very basic ways of manifesting. No matter how complex things may appear, simple principles continue to repeat - aggressive/passive, transient/enduring, course/refined, short-term/long-term...etc.
One of the recurring themes that occurs in social behavior, whether it be among mundane behavior or national policy, is the proclivity for applying one’s energies toward an end goal or a set of methods for achieving that goal.
I live in Japan, and by many standards it’s a great place to live. When I critique the environment here I feel the need to preface my comments with the fact that, for the most part, Japan is a superior civilization. The people are generally wonderful in a variety of ways. But... When one has settled down somewhere it’s easy to begin noticing things that you wish were different. With all its advancement as the world’s third greatest economic power, something that holds Japan back from fulfilling an even greater potential is a very basic but obsessive standard that Japanese culture directs to all aspects of life. In work, school, and daily interaction, Japanese society directs obsessive attention to method and procedure over results. It’s not to say that results are irrelevant In Japan but, first and foremost, a worker, student, friend, or acquaintance must follow a given procedure for anything — even if it interferes with attaining a desirable result or runs contrary to one’s own preferred style of action. A friend of mine was once in a cafe and ordered a sandwich. He asked that they omit the egg. He was told that it “comes with an egg.” The sandwich hadn’t been made yet (!) but the restaurant staff literally found it impossible to simply not put an egg on a sandwich that “comes with it.” I was once at a restaurant where I ordered french toast. It turns out that french toast only came as a set with coffee. I didn’t want a drink and told the waiter that I only wanted french toast. Of course, not bringing me a cup of coffee was impossible because...it comes with it — seriously (!) 🤪
Anyone living in Japan knows the horrors of dealing with the banks here — quasi-government institutions steeped in time-consuming and useless procedures. I once needed change to make a payment to a machine in a bank lobby. There were at least eight people “working” in the bank and no other customers. I went to the counter to ask for change and was told to “take a number.” I took a number and sat. After being called, I made my request and was given a form to fill out. Of course my ID was required as well. Getting change could pose a risk of some kind I suppose. ‘Better know the identity of the guy who got change. That was the procedure. One could get the impression that, if there is any end goal sought by Japanese institutions and businesses, it’s to inconvenience customers as much as possible. Japan is a top-heavy bureau-land with a rigidness of thought that adheres strictly to procedure. This mentality permeates all aspects of society. As a first-rate power, Japan has a surprisingly limited amount of Nobel Prizes awarded to it (often, when a Japanese citizen does get a Nobel prize we find that the person was working at an American university). It’s not that Japan lacks skilled scientists, it just lacks the benefits of free-thinking imaginative efficiency in daily activity. Amazingly, the society that has offered incredible imagination to popular expressions like Anime, restrains such creative independence and creativity in fields where standards are ordained in stone and adhered to with neurotic precision.
I note this issue as it applies to Japan but it’s a standard that permeates all institutions to some degree in all countries. It’s a manifestation of “bureau-mind” - the word I think I coined to describe rigid adherence to procedures and ideals over actual result.
How this relates to politics and government: the private sector in a capitalist system is primarily results-oriented (they have to be) and those who choose to tie themselves and their staff down with process-tedium inevitably reap the negative consequences. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen businesses in Japan forfeit additional sales because they’re bogged down in some procedure that reduces costumer satisfaction. The government by its very nature is “methods” oriented. It often has to be as the minions within a bureaucracy are usually too incompetent to make proper judgements. One size must fit all in bureau-land. In fact, this typical government stance is the hallmark of bureaucracy — perpetually bogged down in rigid concern for procedure over substance and end goals. It’s no surprise that when government gains enough power they seek to impose the same methods on the population at large. No one need get results but everyone must adhere to a procedure, be it recycling properly to using the “correct” vocabulary when speaking of and to others.
On more than one occasion I’ve watched obnoxious journalists pound away at the current president (in a way they never did for his highness, Sir Barack Hussein Obama). Trump is clearly a guy who goes for results...and, usually gets them. His methods are often those of the school yard; simple, instinctual, psychological, unpredictable. How many times have we heard Trump speak of how well he gets along with — and “likes” — the dictators of China or North Korea? I’d certainly be the last to sympathize with such sentiments but it’s beyond obvious to anyone not bogged down in the school of procedure-over-result what he’s doing. China and North Korea et al. know it’s B.S. but how can one publicly spar with someone who’s constantly telling the world that he likes them and has good chemistry with them. This method is simple, basic, and beyond the comprehension of egg heads in government and journalism who are obsessed with proper procedure over results. “Acting presidential” is far more important than getting things done in minds of the minions who nearly destroyed America in the last few decades.
There’s nothing wrong with establishing reasonable methods and guidelines for the purpose of finding solutions and reaching goals but the choices between actions and results lies on a spectrum. Free people with free minds can accomplish miracles when given a clear goal and trusting them to utilize effective methods for reaching it. People enslaved to decorum and procedure are bound to follow the procedure — the key word being, “bound.”
There are many styles of governance. Some are dynamic. Some are tyrannical. Some are inefficient...and, some are just stupid.
