Wisconsin Highway Report on I 90 Stranded: Whaddawedonow?

The real test of an organization is how it responds to failure and corrects it. The recent problems associated with the 14 hour back up on Interstate 90-39 presents an opportunity to the State of Wisconsin, Governor Doyle, and all of the agencies involved. The Department of Transportation and the Wisconsin National Guard can now engage in real improvement.

First things first. The report must be welcomed with sincerity and without recrimination. When improvement is need, the full cooperation of all the participants is needed.  They must feel free to speak frankly and truthfully without worrying about negative consequences or retaliation. We must support their effort to make things better.

As anyone familiar with a quality transformation of an organization knows, the first task is to drive out fear.

The Capital Times lead was simple and straightforward, Doyle apologizes to motorists stranded on highway:

Gov. Jim Doyle says he is now ready to apologize to the motorists who got stranded in a 2,000-vehicle interstate traffic jam during a Feb. 6 blizzard.

"Many people through just some bad decisions ended up on that road who didn't have to," Doyle said an a news conference today. "It's very clear this could have been handled much better."

That is what is needed and expected. There is no need for a totalitarian 'off with their heads' approach unless there was gross misfeasance.

Now the various state agencies must move forward with a spirit of cooperation, without concern for rank, status or power and fix a broken system. It is likely that some young trooper who was on the scene can contribute as much if not more than a twenty year veteran who viewed the problem from afar. It is likely that some young geek with the knowledge of the best communication systems can contribute as much as a division head.

With all of the clamor about the phony 'tax hell' and downsizing government, this is the real challenge. We must improve the quality of government services in a positive, systematic manner.

We have the report but not the fix. They should now go for it.

Comments

[Hiawatha]

Remember Hurricane Katrina ?
I'm still haunted by television images of tractioned patients being floated away to safety on those Blue cheap easily recognizable Walmart air matresses.
I was left angry, wondering why the hell the US Navy or AirForce hadn't air dropped even WWII era flyer liferafts.
A SEAL team could have done much much better.
Flip a liferaft over and you have an emergency bed.

Just as distressing about Katrina is that the local police on the other side of the Mississippi ( Harvey , ... )
forbid people to escape New Orleans over the bridges.

Blankets, MREs, and airdropped teams to coordinate the efforts may be the best answer I have.
I'm thankful a CO poisoning death wasn't part of the outcome this time.

[jon]

Unfortunately Paul, I have yet to hear anyone that claims "tax hell" ever express ANY concern for the public infrastructure (note: I didn't read blogs back when the Marquette rebuilding was discussed). It's like they completely ignore it, only to be critical when it concerns them