In praise of positive improvisation
A common strand of failure runs through our disasters – at the crucial moment, we were either unprepared or indifferent to what might happen. The murder of Kyriaki Griva outside a police station as she sought protection from her violent former partner, the convoy of Croatian soccer hooligans crossing the country unimpeded, the fatal aid mission to Libya, the shipwreck off Pylos, the Tempe tragedy, are just the most recent failures that could have been avoided if the right mechanisms were in place, if the rules were followed, and, especially, if the whole chain of officials involved were imbued with a spirit of responsibility and the ability to improvise where this was needed.
In other words, we need better systems and human qualities – people who care about the security and well-being of others. Because we believe that most people want to do the right thing, we need to look at why things go wrong so often.
One explanation is that our systems allow arbitrary behavior and recklessness, while cultivating fear of responsibility and a sense of impunity. Bad systems shape incompetent officials, and vice versa. Personal responsibility does not lie only with those who ought to foresee problems, to legislate accordingly and to institute the necessary procedures and regulations; everyone involved in applying the rules ought to feel that the mission’s success is their responsibility, too.
For this deadly chain to break, we need a spirit of “positive improvisation.”
We know that procedures always have gaps, something that “the regulations do not foresee” (as services claim when trying to excuse their inertia and failure). This shortcoming provides the public administration with an opportunity to shirk its own responsibilities while wearing down people and exposing them to danger. It is as if an artificial intelligence is at work in our state services and administration, trained to improvise continually in the creation of problems rather than serving and protecting people. This mentality is contagious – politicians who head these services are equally adroit at finding ways to protect themselves at the cost of the system’s improvement, further undermining people’s faith in justice.
For this deadly chain to break, we need a spirit of “positive improvisation.” We must understand that whoever is in a position to help others ought to do this, whether it involves protecting lives or in solving bureaucratic problems. (They should not walk off their shift early, they should not push problems onto others.).
Today, inertia and fear of responsibility are encouraged. Anyone who improvises so as to help others will find himself in trouble, whoever hides behind “The regulations do not foresee this” is safe. Complicated and often contradictory rules and regulations, the unequal treatment of favored employees and the rest, combine to maintain a culture of complaint and a fear of responsibility. (“Why should I take risks when the others hide?”) How politicians and state officials who are products of this negative mentality will inspire others with a spirit of positive, responsible improvisation is one of the great challenges of our time.
