{"id":66191,"date":"2022-11-08T08:30:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=66191"},"modified":"2022-11-08T10:44:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T15:44:37","slug":"the-jenga-school-of-civic-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2022\/11\/08\/the-jenga-school-of-civic-management\/","title":{"rendered":"REID: The Jenga school of civic management"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n

For some years, I worked for an organization that practiced what I came to think of as the Jenga school of management. The organization loved to hire prestigious new employees, set up impressive-sounding new management positions, and embark on ambitious, glamorous new initiatives. Unfortunately, it was also tight on resources. So to help cover the costs, it eliminated unexciting administrative positions filled by unglamorous people who did the organization\u2019s day-to-day work (including, eventually, my position). The result was that the organization got worse and worse at providing basic, core services, and highly-skilled, highly-paid people ended up wasting a lot of their time on routine tasks. Meanwhile, many of the high-flying new initiatives faded away for lack of support after their splashy initial launch.<\/p>\n

As in the game Jenga, the organization kept removing the basic supports that kept the whole thing going in order to try to reach impressive-looking new heights. But the higher it reached, the more unstable it became.<\/p>\n

At some point, I realized that this Jenga management principle could be seen more universally \u2013 and, in particular, at Toronto City Hall. For most of its existence, the amalgamated City of Toronto has kept tax increases, and therefore its revenue increases, low. That has not stopped the City from constantly coming up with new initiatives and projects. But since it\u2019s not bringing in enough new money, to pay for these new initiatives \u2013 and to provide the staff needed to support them \u2013 it has steadily cannibalized the unglamorous but basic functions of city government<\/a>. Maintenance is deferred, retiring staff who do the everyday work aren\u2019t replaced, basic functions are increasingly neglected. Meanwhile, the new initiatives themselves often remain unfunded<\/a>, lack funds for maintenance<\/a>, or trail off into ineffectiveness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOn its website, the city says: \u2018Please be advised that the Diving Board, Spa, Slide, Swing Rope and Leisure Pool Features are currently not operational. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And missing from this pledge to fix: a deadline https:\/\/t.co\/9SsxNV0H4e<\/a><\/p>\n

— Matt Elliott (@GraphicMatt) October 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n