\ .i 1978 THE 1978 COMPUTERPERSONNEL CONFERENCE "THE EMERGING ROLE OF THE DATA PROCESSOR," MAL GOTTERER OF FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IS STAGING THE EVENT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF FRED HAROLD AND ELIAS AWAD, RESEARCH CONFERENCEWILL BE HELD IN MIAMI, FLORIDA, ON AUGUST 24-25, 1978, THE CALL FOR PAPERS N W IS BEING PRINTED AND SHOULD O REACH SIGCPR MEMBERSAND OTHERS SOON, THE CONFERENCETHEME IS ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS: H W O ABOUT TEAM OF T A S E M? Paul D. Oyer U.S. Department of the Treasury Politics--The Key The successful leaders of dynamic organizations are those who have learned P o l i t i c s . They know "How to Beat the Bureaucracy" and "How to Mold Teams of People Into a Dynamic Organization" dedicated to achieving a common goal. Where do we find such leaders? They rarely come from the ranks of the Technocrats--Computer Programmers, Economists, Mathematicians, and so on. They also are very rare in the ranks of the o l d - l i n e Bureaucrats. Why is this? Because they don't believe in People--the cornerstone of p o l i t i c s and of successfu] leadership of organizations. The "Technocrats" put t h e i r f a i t h in t h e i r technology and t h e i r "superior" knowledge. The Bureaucrats put t h e i r f a i t h in t h e i r p o s i t i o n , the status quo, and in t h e i r b e l i e f that "the system" w i l l see them through. But the successful leaders put t h e i r f a i t h in people--all other people, as well as themselves. They work with people to develop common goals using the "grass roots p o l i t i c s " or " p a r t i c i p a t i v e management" approach. Decisions are made by consensus a f t e r involvement of as many interested teams of people as possible. Technocrats e s p e c i a l l y , and even Bureaucrats, can contribute more to those decisions i f they realize that they merely represent one of the many teams (sub-systems) necessary for functioning of the e n t i r e organization (system). How About Volunteer Leaders? Then where can we f i n d such leaders? Wherever l e a d e r s have put people f i r s t , but have shown they can even then a c h i e v e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l g o a l s by proven r e s u l t s . I t h i n k many l e a d e r s o f o r g a n i z a t i o n s o f unpaid v o l u n t e e r s w i l l q u a l i f y . I f they are a c h i e v i n g w o r t h w h i l e mutual g o a l s w i t h a group o f v o l u n t e e r s , then they should be a b l e t o lead anyone. Did you ever t r y t o f i r e a v o l u n t e e r ? V o l u n t e e r i s m ranks f o u r t h - - j u s t behind government, i n d u s t r y , and e d u c a t i o n - - a s a p o w e r f u l f o r c e t h a t moves our c o u n t r y f o r w a r d and shapes our i n s t i t u tions. Lots o f powerful energy, o f the underemployed o r employees f r u s t r a t e d by a u t o c r a t i c management, has been harnessed by l e a d e r s o f v o l u n tary organizations. This o t h e r w i s e " w a s t e d " energy is then channeled i n t o u s e f u l p r o d u c t i o n . The Federal ADP Users Group (FADPUG), a v o l u n t e e r g r o u p , is a s s i s t i n g the P r e s i d e n t ' s ADP R e o r g a n i z a t i o n ProJect by both h e l p i n g t o i d e n t i f y some q u a l i f i e d v o l u n t e e r s t o work on Task Forces (Teams) and by a d d r e s s i n g issues a t the " g r a s s r o o t s " (working) l e v e l . The O f f i c e o f I n d u s t r i a l Economics in the O f f i c e o f the S e c r e t a r y , U.S. Department o f the T r e a s u r y , is a s s i s t i n g the new a d m i n i s t r a t i o n in t a x r e f o r m , e c o n o m e t r i c m o d e l i n g , and f i n a n c i a l p l a n n i n g . Key U s e r s - - t h e top managers o f the new a d m i n i s t r a t i o n - - m u s t t r y t o i n t e g r a t e d y n a m i c a l l y the best efforts of all of their Technocrats, Bureaucrats, and V o l u n t e e r s t o reach a h i g h e r l e v e l o f c o s t e f f e c t i v e management o f the t a x p a y e r s ' d o l l a r and y e t p r o v i d e measurably more u s e f u l s e r v i c e s t o the public. Can t h i s be done by t a p p i n g " t h e good in each o f u s , " [1] the H d i s c i p l i n e d c r e a t i v i t y " o f the T e c h n o c r a t s , the " r e l u c t a n t c o o p e r a t i o n " o f the B u r e a u c r a t s , and the " b o u n d l e s s " energy o f the v o l u n t e e r s ? From our program teams, can we l e a r n enough t o Hscale up" [2] t o the l a r g e r o r g a n i z a t i o n , t o mesh w i t h t h e i r p l a n s , t h e i r changing needs, and goals? Can we broaden our p e r s p e c t i v e above the program team l e v e l t o address the dynamics o f a "team o f teams" approach? Are we prepared t o supply/become the s u c c e s s f u l l e a d e r s o f tomorrow? Are we ready t o plunge i n t o the p o l i t i c a l arena o f the g e n e r a l i s t s ? Our users a w a i t our answer--and our r e s u l t s ( h o p e f u l l y debugged~) References [I] [2] " N o t h i n g But the B e s t , " "The M y t h i c a l Man-Month," Jimmy C a r t e r , 1976. 1975. Dr. Fred Brooks,

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