FAILURE TO PLAN IS A PLAN TO FAIL

Yesterday, a water main broke just outside of Washington, DC stranding motorists for hours as rescue workers removed motorists from their vehicles and utility personnel figured out a way to reach the shut-off valves. You might be surprised to know that water main breaks are a common occurrence in Bethesda, Maryland as well as other communities throughout the United States.

From a strategy point of view, there are several lessons-learned from this man-made wall of water. First, it is becoming more and more evident that the fact that the United States government does not develop a strategic plan is hampering the ability for communities to uniformly and systematically respond to infrastructure needs. While many departments within the government develop their own strategic plan, no government entity creates a systemic strategic plan for the country.

Secondly, because the government agencies fail to plan strategically, the first responders and utility workers are forced to develop contingency and continuity plans in order to react to events that occur as a result of the lack of proactive strategic planning.

Of course, those who follow my HISTOB-PEP™ model realize that strategic decision making often centers around money and who is going to pay for the implementation of a strategic plan. For example, it would cost tens of billions of dollars, if not more, to pay for necessary upgrades to the infrastructure in the United States. Who should pay for those upgrades: Local or county governments? State government? Federal government? Ultimately, it is the taxpayer who would pay for the upgrades, but deciding who should receive the budgeted funds would be a fiscal fight of monumental proportion.

I have long-stated that the United States government needs to design and implement a long-term strategic plan based upon generally accepted objectives and goals that are centered around proactive growth and development, instead of relying on contingency and continuity planning related to responding to situational events.