A few decades back, a friend of mine was upset that his manager was losing his job. He was ranting and raving about what a big mistake upper management was making in not realizing what a good job his soon to be departed manager was doing. That manager calmed him down and told him not to worry, both of them would be just fine. He would find a new job and do fine. And my friend would have a new boss and all would be well.
He said that a manager was like putting a hand in a bucket of water. The hand is in the bucket and the water rises to a certain level. Take that hand out and replace it with a different hand and the water rises again to a new level, maybe not quite as high, maybe about the same, maybe higher. He said that it doesn’t really matter whose hand is in the bucket.
Well, I thought that was true for quite some time, but with Donald Trump as president it has been vividly proven to me that the hand in the bucket theory is not always true. It is probably true for middle management in a corporation, but we have seen that this president has gone a long way to destroying so much of America and America’s influence and leadership in the world – loss of decency, turning away from science, attacking the rule of law, failing to handle a pandemic, and withdrawing American leadership in the world.
The person at the top can sometimes make a huge difference.
In the private sector another example might be Steve Jobs and Apple – after he was let go the company floundered and was failing. When he came back in he got it focused and visionary again. And can there be any doubt that Elon Musk is not replaceable at Tesla?
So, I no longer am able to take comfort in the idea that different hands in the bucket don’t make all that much difference. The current hand in the American bucket is there with a drill to poke holes and drain the bucket.
Plug the leak. Vote for Biden, please.
