I'm forwarding a message that landing in my email, and I thought the
readers of the Resadm-l would enjoy it.
Molly Daniel
Western Kentucky University
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Funny thoughts for Independence Day, courtesy of the International
Counselors' Network. Enjoy!
What might have happened if government bureaucracy were as entrenched
then as it is now. Think about it.
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The Court of King George III
London, England
July 10, 1776
Mr. Thomas Jefferson
c/o The Continental Congress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dear Mr. Jefferson:
We have read your "Declaration of Independence" with great interest.
Certainly, it represents a considerable undertaking, and many of your
statements do merit serious consideration. Unfortunately, the
Declaration as a whole fails to meet recently adopted specifications
for proposals to the Crown, so we must return the document to you for
further refinement. The questions which follow might assist you in
your process of revision:
1. In your opening paragraph you use the phrase "the Laws of Nature
and Nature's God." What are these laws? In what way are they the
criteria on which you base your central arguments? Please document
with citations from the recent literature.
2. In the same paragraph you refer to the "opinions of mankind."
Whose polling data are you using? Without specific evidence, it seems
to us the "opinions of mankind" are a matter of opinion.
3. You hold certain truths to be "self-evident." Could you please
elaborate. If they are as evident as you claim then it should not be
difficult for you to locate the appropriate supporting statistics.
4. "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" seem to be the goals
of your proposal. These are not measurable goals. If you were to say
that "among these is the ability to sustain an average life expectancy
in six of the 13 colonies of at last 55 years, and to enable
newspapers in the colonies to print news without outside interference,
and to raise the average income of the colonists by 10 percent in the
next 10 years," these could be measurable goals. Please clarify.
5. You state that "Whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or
to abolish it, and to institute a new Government...." Have you
weighed this assertion against all the alternatives? What are the
trade-off considerations?
6. Your description of the existing situation is quite extensive.
Such a long list of grievances should precede the statement of goals,
not follow it. Your problem statement needs improvement.
7. Your strategy for achieving your goal is not developed at all.
You state that the colonies "ought to be Free and Independent States,"
and that they are "Absolved from All Allegiance to the British Crown."
Who or what must change to achieve this objective? In what way must
they change? What specific steps will you take to overcome the
resistance? How long will it take? We have found that a little
foresight in these areas helps to prevent careless errors later on.
How cost-effective are your strategies?
8. Who among the list of signatories will be responsible for
implementing your strategy? Who conceived it? Who provided the
theoretical research? Who will constitute the advisory committee?
Please submit an organization chart and vitas of the principal
investigators.
9. You must include an evaluation design. We have been requiring
this since Queen Anne's War.
10. What impact will your problem have? Your failure to include any
assessment of this inspires little confidence in the long-range
prospects of your undertaking.
11. Please submit a PERT diagram, an activity chart, itemized budget,
and manpower utilization matrix.
We hope that these comments prove useful in revising your "Declaration
of Independence." We welcome the submission of your revised proposal.
Our due date for unsolicited proposals is July 31, 1776. Ten copies
with original signatures will be required.
Sincerely,
Management Analyst to the British Crown
