Return to Article: DHS deputy's departure adds to leadership gap
-
33971
Iceman,
It has been my experience that the federal government never gives up on a bad idea. That being the case, you have no hope that DHS will be disbanded and its constituent parts will be sent back to their former agencies.
-
33941
HR Specialist:
Even though it's a fantasy that will never happen (do you really think anyone will stand up and admit that the creation of DHS as presently constituted was a mistake?)your suggestion has my vote, and probably the votes of thousands of my colleagues as well!
Too bad it'll never happen.
-
33929
What a surprise to see another top leader leave. Why can't the rest of the leadership stand up and do the right thing by letting the personnel of the Federal Protective Service return to GSA or better yet, follow the recommendation of the IG Report and make FPS a stand alone agency within the Department with an appropriated budget. Why? Because it would make sense and to be a leader it requires making the difficult decisions, one of which is admitting that FPS does not belong under ICE!!!!!!!!! Fps'd off.
-
33898
Praise Ceasar all you want, but I have come to bury him. The truth of the matter is that one can make the argument for senior managers being overwhelmed, but that is hardly the flaw inherent in DHS. There are two major flaws in this organization: First, it's a dysfunctional, top heavy, Frankenstein's monster of an organiation built on the Rube Goldberg principle of design. Second, no matter how many "holes" there are in senior management there's very little leadership (from the "leaders") and no one bothers to ask why they need so many leaders anyways.
Look at DHS, organizationally, and you see an agency that has ALWAYS had deep morale problems, poor mission identification, huge financial problems (debt and mismanagement), rampant cronyism, and which serves no real purpose. This is to be expected to some extent, but the prevailing culture of cluelessness leaves the agency like a ship with its masts sheared away and its rudder fouled. It is driven by circumstance not by plan or design and the crew is left trying to keep the durned thing afloat while the captain and his officers are abandoning ship.
-
33807
During 11 months of DHS employment in 2003/2004, I quickly learned that the new DHS leadership was overwhelmed in their attempts to stand up a new agency. I watched in horror as "mission" decisions were made by contractors or new government hires just released from corporate payrolls. As we know, when Congress established the DHS, thousands of patriotic government employees clamored to take temporary DHS assignments. Simultaneously, another group of thousands of employees (from the 20+ legacy organizations merged to create the new DHS) were notified of their pending transfers to DHS (with or without their consent). Apparently ignoring or unaware of these pending morale disasters for agency employees, DHS ecame "operational" before filling key leadership positions. "What a challenge" was an understatement for DHS leaders like Mr. Jackson. Add the shortage of office space for these thousands of new and transferred employees, the inevitable use of temporary offices situated throughout the DC metro area, delayed orders of computers and telephones, hallways serving as work sites, cubicles shared with multiple employees from 3 shifts, etc. All of that compounded by the mandated new employee performance system. No one was noticing that most supervisory positions had not yet been filled and that many supervisory responsibilities were unofficially assumed or temporarily assigned to the "proverbial warm body". Finally, add the strain of meeting Congressional demands for continuous updates. Whether by design or not, try to imagine the leadership at any agency undergoing this degree of turmoil which would not be susceptible to the efficiency, expertise and resources that come with government contracts. In the case of DHS, corporate contractors teamed with unprepared, but dedicated government employees such as Mr. Jackson to put Congress's mandate into place. I believe there was no other choice in light of the unprecedented circumstances. Today, as DHS leadership remains broken, Congress must be forced to fix the mess, but but right now we need offer sincere thanks to employees like Mr. Jackson. He hung in there with presumably great personal sacrifice (4 years...are you kidding me...I lasted only 11 months). I say thanks" for his government service. To the critics, I say "try working at DHS and see if you can last 4 long excruciating years".
-
33804
Having witnessed Michael Jackson's leadership performance, or lack thereof, during the Katrina daily video teleconferences I am not saddened to see him leave. If one tracks the Government Executive articles mentioning him during, and after, his tenure at TSA one would note that this was a sub-caliber apparatchiki that was promoted way above his level of competence.
I agree with 'DHS Employee' who posted his comments on September 25, 2007 10:13 AM, in that self-styled and self-promoting 'experts' such as Carafano should not be quoted when they speak out of both sides of their mouths. Carafano was the principal architect for the current organizational morass that is DHS.
-
33773
And another one bites the dust! The extraordinary turnover in top executive positions at DHS continues as usual. In just 4 1/2 years of existence, DHS management has become a revolving door of political appointees who come and go, while nothing changes for the better. DHS management reminds me of a flock of seagulls, who fly in, make a lot of noise, dump all over the place, and then fly away!
DHS was created in response to 9/11, but was an unnecessary overreaction to that attack (I've previously called DHS a "knee-jerk response" to 9/11 on other posts, but some feel that expression, while true, is overused). DHS has NO authority to conduct terrorism investigations (FBI retains that SOLE authority), no real intelligence component (CIA and NSA have that taken care of), and is just too big, unwieldy and cumbersome to be effective. CBP and ICE have absorbed so many different roles that they have become "jacks of all trades and masters of none", due to the unique and specialized aspects of both immigration and customs enforcement. Those of us who were drafted into this Frankenstein's monster since it's inception have been saying this for years, but it continues to fall on deaf ears. DHS was, is and will always be a political creation, which is why it will never work as currently constituted. Too bad nobody really seems to care, be they the White House, Congress, the press, or the public.
-
33766
Leadership? No, let us be clear. DHS manages its personnel, it does not lead. One cannot "train-the-trainer" or "Virtual University" leadership. This continual push for leadership "on the cheap" will only result in failure.
-
33759
You guys should stop quoting James Carafano. Carafano and his so called think tank have been advising DHS all along and look what kind of mess it is in.
-
33758
Hey Iced,
I've got the perfect names and places for all the smaller components.
How about the Customs Service moved back to Treasury; the Immigration and Naturalization Service moved back to Justice; Plant and animal inspections where they belong at APHIS/USDA; the Secret Service back to Treasury; the Coast Guard back to Transportation; TSA to Transportation; and my favorite- FEMA as a stand alone agency.
I should win an award for thnking up such a unique concept.
-
33720
Hey Chertoff,
Let Julie Meyers pick the person for this position too. She'll just nominate herself again and fabricate another resume.
We are all ICED!!!!
-
33719
Good Riddance to Jackson. To quote james Carafano, "there are too many organizational components for one man to manage". DHS is too large and cumbersome. DHS needs to be broken into smaller components that will create a manageable structure. But, as usual, DHS will fail again. Everyone's laughing, but for DHS and the U.S., it won't be funny when the failure really hits home.
PROMO RIGHT: EVENTS
UPCOMING WEBINARS
NOVEMBER 18
Speed bumps for Teleworking: What are they and how to avoid them?
DECEMBER 3
Achieve Program Success: Unlock the Management Information in Your Data
DECEMBER 10
Practical Transparency: Applying Exchange Networks for Mission Results
PROMO RIGHT: DIRECTORIES
Post a Comment
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this Service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Government Executive does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.