Ingersoll residents to ERTH corporation. WTF?

This video link is a little long but it sort of defines my way of managing. Managing with a big budget is easy - You just buy talent and expensive things and of course advertise it well. Smaller budgets requires creative solutions. Some would say Common sense solutions. First let me define Common Sense as I see it. Each person has their own common sense - it is a culmination of all the experience and training they have received up until that moment. If as a manager, you have experience with big budgets - you will think it is common sense to spend big on solutions. If you are a single mom with a small budget you will think that finding time with your kids is more important than going to Canada's Wonderland. If you are book-smart manager you will likely think that flooding the memo board with policies and procedures is how to manage your work force. If you are a people-smart manager you will likely spend a lot of time with your people ensuring things are done right.

In the video it talks about how effective a flashing sign is that tells you to slow down versus speed cameras that will send you a ticket, and the flashing sign is a lot cheaper. Changing behaviour is a lot cheaper than punishing behaviour.

A local example is our fancy stop lights. $60,000 worth and counting. We first got the old edition that kept folks awake at night and were confusing to pedestrians. CRU (Which we are the major shareholder in) never attended a council meeting to explain, staff said wait till the next generation is installed and we are getting signs. When the newer version went up, pedestrians are even more confused but residents notice the lower volume - unfortunately pedestrians do not know if they hear real birds or a stop light? No CRU but staff says there is an issue with the software and CRU is working on it and we are going to get signs.

Today - residents have adapted to the noise, pedestrians just ignore the walk/don't walk light and we still have no signs or just jaywalk. I have watched one of our local White Cane residents walk diagonally across the intersection by the townhall. I have helped him across the street. I have watched a Dad teaching his child to watch for the little man light to know that it is safe to cross, wait through an entire traffic light cycle - not knowing that he has to now push a button to get it to work. We have no signs - We have no CRU explanation - Small stuff yes - but if I was on council or managed CRU - I would be sweating bullets that a resident meets a car mid-intersection.

I think this inaction is wrong and dangerous. There is no requirement by law that we have these lights (Yet) but rumour is we are ordering more. I think we should not be experimenting with residents lives, demand the old lights and our money back.

I think that ERTH needs to concentrate on serving their customers efficiently rather than becoming some Global Entity. I think voters need to take notice of the leakage from their wallets and vote for their own wallet. As Mayor I will find the way to protect your money.


http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_sweat_the_small_stuff.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-06-15&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email