Open Writing

Lawrence J. Peter, in his satirical book titled “The Peter Principle and Why Things Always Go Wrong,” proposes his theory that people rise in their career in every hierarchy to the level of their own incompetence. Further, he says that the really effective work in organizations is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.

If this is true, and there is plenty of evidence that it is, one has to question the wisdom of placing the responsibility for major corporate and governmental decision-making in the hands of the seasoned top-dogs, or these days, the female of the species. It’s hard to find a good, wise decision among the public declarations of political leaders and captains of industry and finance. To make matters worse, many individuals who resign or retire from high government positions are subsequently enticed on to the boards of large corporations. One has to ask, why? A current example is Paul Wolfowitz, the failed US Deputy Secretary of Defense, and now the failed President of the World Bank.

I comb the newspapers and watch TV news until I’m dizzy, but it’s a rare day when I learn of a decision and think “right on.” OK, so it’s easy to second guess the decision makers, but even to a lay person, many judgments look wrong-headed at the outset, and play out predictably.

Ehud Olmert’s decision to invade Lebanon. President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. Hewlett Packard’s ex-Chair, Patricia Dunn’s decision to tap into corporate telephone and email correspondence and spy on executives. Any number of decisions by CEO’s of large corporations to plunder their employees’ pension funds to make their companies appear more profitable. North Korea and Iran’s decisions to pursue their nuclear ambitions in the face of world disapproval. The list goes on.

There are a few shining exceptions: Bill Gate’s decision, in concert with Warren Buffet, to use their mega millions to solve world health and education issues; Nobel Peace Prize winner and micro banker Muhammad Yunus’ decision not to enter politics; and Northern Ireland’s politicians’ decision to work together for the common good. But really, such wise choices are almost as rare as hen’s teeth.

The governing assembly of the central Swiss canton (state) of Glarus, decided in May 2007, to lower to 16 the age at which citizens can vote in local and cantonal elections, leaving at 18 the minimum age at which residents of the canton can run for cantonal office. There are also moves in some Scandinavian countries, long known for their pragmatism, to reduce the voting age to 16 and the minimum age to run for public office to 18.

I wonder if this signals the possibility that these hardly educated, and questionably mature citizens will make better, wiser decisions than their more seasoned and experienced elders. If so, what can we expect of this trend, say 25 or 50 years hence? There are a few clues already. World tennis champions have been minted in their teens for quite some years now, and every second of play on the court calls for nanosecond decisions that have to be right if you’re going to win. Baseball and basketball players are considered to be retirable in their thirties, if they last that long.

John F. Kennedy was the youngest American president at 42, and the current presidential hopeful, Barack Obama will be just a tad older than that if he is elected, so a future president in his/her twenties is not that unlikely. In 2004, Norwegian, Magnus Carlsen became the youngest chess Grandmaster in the world at 13, and now, just three years later, he is only the third youngest. Meanwhile, solo violinists make their concert debuts in the world’s capitals while still cutting their second teeth.

Just when I thought I had all the background information I needed for this column, my eye caught a headline in the June 11, 2007, issue of Time Magazine. The headline reads, “In the Ring With the World’s Youngest Bullfighter.” The article, by Tim Padgett, tells of Rafita Mirabal, a ten year old, 80lb, Mexican bullfighter! Now there’s a sport that demands good decision making. Rafita is not alone as a child matador; he and his young amigos are credited with starting a revival in bullfighting popularity, a sport that was headed for obscurity in Mexico, according to the article.

One has to wonder whether the aficionados get more of a thrill out of the prospect of seeing a ten-year-old gored, than an adult. Be that as it may, one thing the fans will not see Rafita doing for a while is administering the coup de grace – he’s not tall enough or heavy enough, but it would seem that he’s old enough.

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