Rumsfeld’s Rules

With each new Oracle- related revelation, it is becoming clearer that Sacramento has lost its bearings. This isn’t just a contracting scandal anymore. It is a management crisis.

Career civil servants in two departments raised red flags and were told by their politically appointed superiors to hush up and “think outside the box.” A top aide to Gov. Gray Davis ignored her own instincts and signed off on the hastily drafted proposal.

Investigations will eventually get to the bottom of the Oracle deal. But what can be done to close the management gap in Sacramento?

Donald Rumsfeld may have some answers.

Yes, that Don Rumsfeld, the current U.S. secretary of Defense.

When I was 25, I was tapped to be a White House aide and showed up for work in the old Executive Office Building. On that first day, my boss gave me a copy of memos and lists stapled together titled “Rumsfeld’s Rules.”

It was the best 20 pages ever compiled on how to serve the president and the country ethically and effectively. The rules are a must read for all government employees, perhaps especially for the Davis administration in Sacramento.

Here are a few of Rumsfeld’s Rules:

If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.

Doubts trailed the Oracle contract at every stage, yet no senior executive served the governor or the taxpayers by saying no. I worked side by side with two state directors of finance in Sacramento, and I believe that both of them would have resigned rather than sign off on a deal like Oracle.

It must become acceptable again for California government officials to say no when something doesn’t pass the smell test. What’s more, the governor should fire political appointees who fail to at least listen to concerns expressed by career professional staff.

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority and accountability their direction.

Absent pressure from the governor’s personal staff, would the Oracle proposal have fallen on deaf ears? Procurement decisions should be made via a fair, apolitical process with the maximum amount of competition and with full disclosure. California’s current procurement system doesn’t have a role for the governor’s staff, nor should it.

Your performance depends on people. Select the best, train them and back them.

Recruitment is undervalued in most administrations. There are so many political supporters who want jobs that a governor could fill the executive branch many times over with donors, activists, supporters and their spouses.

Richard Riordan was ridiculed by his Republican primary opponents for pledging to bring “the best and the brightest” to Sacramento, but he was right, and Gov. Davis and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon Jr. would do well to pledge to follow Riordan’s advice.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

The governor and the Legislature should agree on a limited number of strategic management initiatives. The federal government is moving in this direction, with the Office of Management and Budget launching initiatives designed to reduce costs or improve the quality of government services. These goals in turn will drive the demand for certain technology applications that are needed for the government to become more productive.

But federal and state managers must have better models for evaluating proposals. For example, California needs a common methodology for evaluating the return on investment from technology. The current system is too vague, which was one reason why the Oracle deal wiggled its way through the process.

Be above suspicion. Set the right example.

What ultimately blew the lid off Oracle was the revelation that an Oracle lobbyist had passed a $25,000 campaign contribution to a Davis staffer within days of the signing of the deal. The “above suspicion” rule is important, yet it is also the easiest to follow. It harks back to the Rumsfeld Rule, “If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.”