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Monday, March 29, 2004
7:42:00 PM EST
Changing the Culture
"The chess political punks are not experienced
enough to understand what a miserable job they've done, and cannot conceive
of the difference competency would make. They self validate one another's
worth, and self select from a rather limited gene pool. We must recruit
from outside the system in order to make any fundamental progress." -- James Eade
A
culture can be said to consist of a particular set of attitudes that
characterizes a group of people. As always the focus needs to be on
changing the unproductive attitudes of a culture. In
the view of some the USCF has developed a culture of arrogance, a
culture of greed, and a
culture of secrecy. This
has hindered the USCF from success. With this we often see infighting
over money or control, contempt for
those of lesser status or who disagree, acts of patronage for their friends,
subterfuge, unresolved conflicts of interest,
and a dislike for disclosure or discovery. There has been a
philosophy that the intended ends do justify any means. The Board of
Delegates and Executive Board have yet to accept responsibility
for organizational results. If the organization had been wildly successful,
people would be less concerned about the sometimes mean-spirited,
insular, exclusive, righteous, dishonest, misogynistic, homophobic, hypocritical,
and self-serving predilections of some of those who still
represent the organization. A defining attitude is how our USCF officials attend to their
stewardship on behalf of the membership.
I don't believe our USCF
officials view that their conduct sometimes might appear intended to secure
a benefit or advantage for themselves or another. None of them would say
their actions on our behalf were unlawful, dishonest, or less than
impartial. We do however have a unique culture where, much like a family
owned enterprise, we use membership dues to conduct business transactions
with past, current, or future USCF officials and their associates. This is
all done through the awarding of bids, contracts, concessions, branding,
publicity, articles, purchases, appointments, TDs, and jobs. Some refer to
this behavior as keeping things all in the family. This behavior can be
epitomized by the comment “If I have
a good thing to hand out in private life, I give it to a friend. Why
shouldn't I do the same in public life?” All this is often done behind
closed doors and justified as being in the USCF’s best interest.
Some USCF officials come across with attitudes that indicate that
somehow they know better what's best for the members and treat members as
though they are unwashed masses. The
ultimate in arrogance is an
USCF official who believes because they were elected they have been somehow
endowed by God to do what they personally feel is best for the membership.
Those who represent the USCF demonstrate their arrogance by characterizing those who
support change to this culture as malcontents, nutcases, loons, and
scofflaws while wanting to censor those
who are concerned about the organizations lack of accountability. The
inability to accept differences and double standards are the most telling
part of the culture. This results in what appears to be some form of paranoid behavior.
Peter Drucker had it right when he argued that he
need for dissent was particularly important to nonprofit institutions.
Because of such dissent [thanks to OMOV], the good news is this now can all
be changed. Membership oriented results, accountability, transparency, and
ethics need to be added to the equation. All that is needed is diversity of
leadership, a businesslike board, some mission based management, and a
culture of accountability and openness. The active ingredients of this
prescription are moral courage, honesty, member appreciation, customer
focus, courtesy, desire to help, friendliness, and willingness to listen.
In short we must become externally focused rather than internally
obsessed. Easier said than done, but
quite doable as there are many examples of success from other organizations.
So how can the leadership
begin to change the culture to be more open with whom they accept into
their ranks, to have a more open and consistent process in the conduct of
business, and to be more open regarding the sharing of timely and uncensored
information? The first requirement of such a strong, effective
board will be -- understanding its legal responsibilities --
particularly regarding its fiduciary duty.
The second requirement is fulfilling those legal
responsibilities -- through policies, documentation, and consistent
action. The third requirement is maintaining this vigilance. Accountability is not a one-time
activity – ethics, transparency and compliance are part of ongoing
operations.
It often appears we have
some high school student government version of machine politics that
appears to be taking one step forward and two steps back, but the
organization has been making slow small steps in the right direction. Too
slow? Perhaps. Could a larger dose of sunshine help? Certainly. Should
dissent and new ideas be embraced and channeled rather than suppressed?
Indeed. Food for thought during this election.
Sunday, April 4, 2004
6:00:00 AM EDT
Regaining Trust
It is necessary only for
the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph — Edmund Burke
Since 2001 four Executive
Board members have resigned in frustration. A current board member has
confided that they would also resign if they
did not an obligation to the voters to serve on their behalf. I've heard
the same from more than one current USCF committee chair. All say if they
had it to do over they would not serve again. In my view, the insider
politics in the USCF drives away volunteers and damages the organization as
more energy is put into personal agendas and self promotion than in
properly managing the corporation. This dysfunctional and negative
form of behavior is employed because it works in lieu of new ideas. A focus
on legality rather than proprietary is indicative of this behavior. Some of
our leaders and their followers are so sensitive to criticism or
disagreement that they believe any unsportsmanlike behavior is justified to
protect their interests. They will do what they feel is best for the
organization (which is also usually best for themselves) at all costs.
Unless the organization’s behavior changes, people will continue to leave.
Ad hominem attacks, false allegations,
personal smears, accusing others of lying or making imaginary threats,
attempts to ban, threats of lawsuits and censure are all not uncommon.
These are done purposely and maliciously to maintain the status quo, get
ones way, shut up critics, divert attention, and to block change. Issues
are purposely lost in the rhetoric. The poor behavior is often
rationalized by the claim it was not illegal, was in self-defense (even
when employed preemptively), it’s OK during an election, just following the
interpretation of the rules, or it was done via a private communication
which was leaked without permission. The actions are sometimes
executed through others, by pretending to be others, using fake names,
anonymously, or in the background to maintain deniability. It has
not been uncommon that an investigation is carried out ostensibly to
uncover “subversive” activities
but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.
We know the terms allegation
(offense) and speculation (defense) are assertions that have yet to be
proven or are supported by evidence. It has been a common diversionary
tactic by USCF insiders to invent or fabricate a personalized claim
and demand someone else prove their claim is false (including the claim
they or their leaders are being attacked). At worst USCF insiders find such
actions only as juvenile in nature, so why be concerned? Because it is condoned and even practiced by our USCF
leadership, those who support this behavior have become more bold over time
such that it is no longer purely a behind the scenes activity. Many long
time members have come to view such behavior as normal and feel it is no
big deal or can be ignored. They often maintain this behavior is
fine as long as it is not done in an official capacity. Over time it is these set of attitudes that
characterizes the USCF culture.
This set of tactics works well
as those who have something to lose fall in line or are silenced pretty
quick to avoid being damaged and those who have nothing to lose don't want
to waste their time putting up with these shenanigans. Effective people
have better things to do then participate with such trivial games and
dishonesty. These politics of personal destruction are the other side of
the coin of secrecy. The net impact on the organization is a limited talent
pool.
Some of the USCF insiders feel they are righteous
in their cause and are unforgiving of those who don't agree with them. Often
governance related fears with a more open process are that no longer can
insiders control who runs for office and they often think the "wrong
people" will be elected or vote, people not like them. These same USCF
members feel better by choosing sides and standing in judgment of
those who may be different. These feelings somehow justify ostracizing or treating others
poorly. Further if the insider feels slighted/criticized they will return
the imagined slight tenfold and will to seek to obscure, interfere with, suppress
(if you will) the speech as well as participation of those who don’t agree
with them. Such poor behavior begets only more poor behavior.
Due to such poor behavior, a
major issue has become the current image of USCF. Because the behavior is
so prevalent, many observers perceive the organization as incompetent and
directionless with sordid internal politics. The organization cannot seem
to address the ethics of its
leadership. The handful of insiders and their proxies who foster this
culture need to retire and let others take the helm. Since
these individuals are always surrounded by controversy, real term limits, enhanced/enforced
standards of conduct, and volunteer qualifications (including exclusion of
convicted felons) may be required to accomplish this necessary change.
These concepts can be applied to both our boards,
their members and their committees. Improving organizational
behavior must start at the top. The
USCF must have those who represent it to lead by example. The
USCF is in need of strong independent leadership who will no
longer tolerate the politics of personal destruction as well as in need
of people with a publicly held business background on board; people
that know how to maintain mission, generate revenue, plan forward, spend
accordingly, have contacts in the business/charitable community and can
help with funding issues. Only if
this poor behavior is no longer tolerated by the USCF leadership will
improvement occur.
As this is done, much effort
must be expended by the USCF to share the new direction with the membership
while soliciting their help. The organization must embrace criticism and
improve, be more open, inclusive, and particularly results oriented if it
is to regain the trust of the membership. Along with earned trust will come
new blood.
Postlude:
For several examples of the
old USCF culture and personalities whose behavior still impacts the
organization today see:
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4
Dear President Goichberg,
It would appear from your campaign postings that
you expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest on the
part of the Executive Board particularly regarding the office of
the USCF President. It also appears you have been concerned
in the past about USCF officials attacking
others publicly -- be these officials acting as USCF Executive
Board Members or even USCF Committee Chairs. Certainly unresolved
questions of conflict of interest or public smears of others by those who
represent the USCF do not help the business or reputation of the
Federation. Much of the energy of the previous Executive Board over the
last two years seemed to have been diverted by such divisive activities. It
is particularly unbecoming when USCF officials publicly attack each other
and even more egregious when they attack ordinary USCF members. The
previous Executive Board was unable to organizationally address the
perceptions of potential conflicts or public name calling by such
officials.
It always takes courage to bring up issues that may affect
personal relationships in an organization but the situation
already has been a serious hindrance to effectiveness, ethical
behavior and transparency. As USCF President you have the
opportunity to address these issues thus helping to mitigate the
potential obstacles and dangers to organizational reputation by the
lack of clear guidelines for dealing with conflicts of interest as well
as poor public behavior by those who are in a position of leadership.
As you have aptly pointed out, silence by those who have
held leadership positions implies consent.
You may recall on July 30, 2005 I sent you a thought
piece entitled Serving with Integrity. The online version of
this piece can be found at http://www.betteruscf.org/integrity.htm .
In this piece I included several sample documents which may serve as a
starting point to aid the USCF in navigating the choppy waters regarding
competing interest related issues. I would ask that the Executive Board
consider the adoption of such policies or rules to enhance its
effectiveness and the organizations reputation.
To improve there must be a commitment to change. I would
strongly suggest the organization seek professional guidance from someone
who specializes in nonprofit leadership and ethics. Current
officers should at minimum sign a document confirming that they
would live up their fiduciary obligations and to the organization’s
Standards of Conduct for the Executive Board. While the Standards of Conduct is
contradictory in part and poorly worded in other parts, attempting in good
faith to follow it would resolve many concerns. The remaining concerns can
be remediated by holding other USCF officials to similar standards of
conduct. Further, the Standards
of Conduct for the Executive Board have no standing in the bylaws, and also
the bylaws contain no independent references to conflict of interest. There
is an opportunity to improve this at the next annual meeting.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. I would like
to request this note to you be BINFOed and also
ask for a response. I wish the Executive Board all the best at their
efforts to further the purpose of the USCF on behalf of the
membership.
Yours for Chess,
Wayne Praeder
USCF Member ID 12887461
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