The chaos we are experiencing in our government is a concern that lingers. It is the catalyst for my posts on tyranny. You can read previous posts HERE.
In our society many, including Christians, have decided tranny is the solution for anything judged wrong. Our founding fathers who fled tyranny and formed this nation put check and balances in our constitution to prevent tyrannical rule. Currently those checks and balances are being ignored, heading us to a constitutional crisis.
There is a behind the scene check, one which the administration has failed to recognize or at least underestimated — “inmates run the prison”. It is a reality that is cause for optimism in my despair. Let me explain.
I first learned” “inmates run the prison” as a 21 year old production foreman. As the foreman in charge and control of 20+ employees, — I was the boss. However, it didn’t take long to disabuse me of that notion.
It was true, I was in charge of achieving production, quality, compliance to company rules et al, Management assumed I was in charge and made decisions accordingly. I definitely had responsibility but the idea that I was in control was an illusion.
A rookie mistake production foreman make is believing they are in control. They don’t realize it is in the best interest of employees to let their boss think they are in charge …until it isn’t. As long as everything is going smoothly the illusion of control continues.
Systems, production, organization, family, church, et al, will inevitably encounter issues that disrup. When disruption happens, the cause could be accidental, random, intentional, purposeful, rebellion, sabotage, innocent mistake… ad infinitum. No system will run smoothly indefinitely.
When a disruption occurs and and production is lost, it must be made up. As a foreman, theoretically in control, you should be able to direct/demand employees to make up the loss i.e. work harder. Because production standards define what employees are required to produce and no more; making up lost production by demanding employees exceed production standards is not an option. However, employees can voluntarily exceed production standards. When a foreman has lost production and his job is in jeopardy, he is acutely aware his fate is in the hands of his employees — “inmates run the prison” .
Once a foreman understands “inmates run the prison”, he quickly learns success depends upon his ability to develop relationships built on trust. There are other qualities and skills needed but none are more important than building trust.
I didn’t recognize it at the time, but Rudy, my mentor with forty years as a production foreman, demonstrated what I would later learn. While shadowing Rudy, there was an equipment breakdown causing lost production. I expected him take some overt action to make up the loss. Instead he calmly stood with his arms crossed and watched as employees steadily made the loss without a word from him. What I didn’t understand then, but later learned, they trusted Rudy would not betray them and he trusted they would help him.
Tyrants assume others cannot be trusted and are responsible for failure or loss. At the beginning I said “inmates run the prison” is cause for optimism. It is optimism that tyranny will ultimately fail as history has proven.
Despite its ultimate demise, the cost of tyranny is horrendous as history testifies. The numbers are incomprehensible 1 https://reason.com/volokh/2022/11/09/data-on-mass-murder-by-government-in-the-20th-century/ but they serve as reminder: no matter where tyranny is exercised ruthlessness and violence will result.
“…you are not to be like that.”.
”the greatest among you should be like be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves”…
STILL ON THE JOURNEY
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