Organizational Excellence specialty track

[RiverAux]

You know, before you can run for elective office in the CG Aux you have to pass a test on CG Aux administrative procedures.  I think this would be a wise thing for CAP to do as well for squadron commander on up.  A CAP version would probably be a bear because we have gazillions more regulations that apply to everyday life in the local unit than CG Aux. 

[Timbo]

I just read the CAPP 223 DRAFT  http://members.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/P223_Draft_B81ED216607C0.pdf twice through.  I do not think I like it.  It seems to me that unless you are a part of this new OE group you can basically forget about achieving anything important in CAP.  Especially the Executive level of OE.  These people will get special opportunities and benefits.  It says so.  I also do not like that the Wing Commander and Region Commander will be assembling OE councils to oversee the program at the Wing and Region levels.  Most Wing and Region Commander are political appointees, and have never been through anything closely resembling organizational excellence themselves.

So this program seems more about awarding friends of Commanders than actually expanding the development of regular "Joe blow member".

What also caught my attention was the "suggestion" to join a organization outside of CAP at a members expense.  Although they said CAP may pay for the membership dues......two questions come to mind.  First, why should my (and your) tax dollars and membership dues go to help a group of people personally selected by the National Commander to join an organization that is not needed.  Second, who created this OE program, most likely a person who has an interest in this outside professional organization.

Finally, they need to rewrite the introduction on SPAATZ.  It is very long winded, and there is no link between him or the story and why it is included in the OE Track guide.  1 page on him and his CAP role should suffice.  IF you want you can introduce his military career, but only as an introduction.

I am very anxious to see exactly how this program is finally setup and who is "bumped" immediately to the last two levels of this program.  Just because you Command a SQD, Group or Wing does not mean you know anything about organizational excellence.  It most likely means you know the person who placed you in Command and (unfortunately) are friends with him or her.  Don't try to tell me nepotism does not run rampent in CAP.  We all know it does. 

My vote.  A big NO on this proposed program.  This is only a way to make those already standing out, shine brighter and feel better.  It adds very little substance.       

[Eclipse]

Just because you Command a SQD, Group or Wing does not mean you know anything about organizational excellence.  It most likely means you know the person who placed you in Command and (unfortunately) are friends with him or her.  Don't try to tell me nepotism does not run rampant in CAP.  We all know it does. 

Rampant or not, there are any number of people here that would take exception to an insulting statement like that, including me.

Do not make the mistake of assuming local perception is national reality in this regard...

[lordmonar]

Timbo,

I think the OE specialty track is an attempt to aleviate some of the issues you bring up.

TODAY we have group/wing/regional/national level commanders and staffers who never went through an OE program....because it never existed.

Once this program is instituted we can start growing quality leaders from within.   We can get OE officers on the commitees.  We can get OE officers into senior leadership positions.

The OE program is NOT for "Joe Blow Member"...it is for those who are being groomed for senior leadership. 

The wing commander is not primarily a political position....yes there is politics involved....but there has never been a check to that sort of thing.   I see the OE program as a way of mitigating this problem. 

We can use this program to make sure that the political appointee has the basic qualifications.

[James Shaw]

Timbo,

I think the OE specialty track is an attempt to aleviate some of the issues you bring up.

TODAY we have group/wing/regional/national level commanders and staffers who never went through an OE program....because it never existed.

Once this program is instituted we can start growing quality leaders from within.   We can get OE officers on the commitees.  We can get OE officers into senior leadership positions.

The OE program is NOT for "Joe Blow Member"...it is for those who are being groomed for senior leadership. 

The wing commander is not primarily a political position....yes there is politics involved....but there has never been a check to that sort of thing.   I see the OE program as a way of mitigating this problem. 

We can use this program to make sure that the political appointee has the basic qualifications.

I agree 100%. It is also a major part of the transparent organization that MGen Courter has established. This is a large step in the right direction for the hopeful elimiation of the Good Old Boy Network. No more formerly 2B'd members coming back in and being promoted to Colonel based on a friend.

I will participate in this if given the chance.

[jimmydeanno]

Wouldn't it be great if it didn't take three pages of discussion to figure out what the heck this thing is for?...

[lordmonar]

I figured it out is about 2 seconds.....Once you get past the strange name and really read the training requirements.....it is obvious they intend this program to prepare leaders to take on command and high staff positions.

[James Shaw]

Wouldn't it be great if it didn't take three pages of discussion to figure out what the heck this thing is for?...

In the past it was a Good Old Boy system. Promotions based on friends in the right spot and right time. Some people were put in jobs they were not qualified to do.

Secretive meetings and promotions and deals behind the doors and others paying the price for telling the truth.

Transparent organization based on Proven Qualifications and proven trackrecord.

This is the best move that MGen Courter has made in my humble opinion.

[jimmydeanno]

I figured it out is about 2 seconds.....Once you get past the strange name and really read the training requirements.....it is obvious they intend this program to prepare leaders to take on command and high staff positions.

My point was it would be nice if there was a, "The Organizational Excellence Officer is..." and "This specialty track is intended to..."  Instead of, "Check out this new draft pamphlet and new form and let us know what you think."

Instead we are speculating as to the actual intent of this program, we're up to three pages and don't have a concrete "this is" only conjectures.

[RiverAux]

What also caught my attention was the "suggestion" to join a organization outside of CAP at a members expense.  Although they said CAP may pay for the membership dues......two questions come to mind.  First, why should my (and your) tax dollars and membership dues go to help a group of people personally selected by the National Commander to join an organization that is not needed. 

I missed that.  If it actually suggests that CAP pays for a members dues in another organization, that is a major strike in my book.

[lordmonar]

4. Consider personal membership in the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). This organization's purpose is to assist in the professional staff development of a nonprofit association. You may visit their website at http://www.asaecenter.org/. Members will need to be enrolled at the "Association Professional Staff" level. At the current time, annual dues are set at $265. Depending on the status of the CAP Corporate budget, some funds might be available to offset all or a portion of the dues

A quick check of their website....makes me think that this would be $265 well spent.

Of course.....this would mean we whould have to budget for it.

[RiverAux]

A quick check of their website....makes me think that this would be $265 well spent.

I belong to several professional societies, none of which have dues that are more than 40% of that cost.  I've got no problem if we want to suggest joining a group like this, but in now way is it worth the dues of 4-5 senior members to pay for a 1 year membership for a CAP poo-bah. 

[lordmonar]

A quick check of their website....makes me think that this would be $265 well spent.

I belong to several professional societies, none of which have dues that are more than 40% of that cost.  I've got no problem if we want to suggest joining a group like this, but in now way is it worth the dues of 4-5 senior members to pay for a 1 year membership for a CAP poo-bah. 

This is the argument I used against you on the concept of a CAP retirement fund. 

Is it because we are spending money....or is just that we are spending money on "Poo-bahs"?

I think that CAP would be willing to shell out money to fund something like this(and they have not yet) says that they are really serious about making our "executive" levels true professionals.  If this organisation can provide out leaders with training/networking/support I think that shelling out a little green would be a good thing.

4-5 senior members dues.....that sounds cheap to me, and we can raise this money my requiring every executive level trainee to recruit 5 new members. 

[RiverAux]

I don't believe it is a wise use of CAP funds to pay for our members to join another organization under any circumstances and for any personnel.  In this case, it seems blindingly obvious to me that the only persons likely to get funded are the poo-bahs rather than the guy down at the squadron level. 

That being said, I wouldn't complain about a person from NHQ joining the organization and gleaning what ideas and tips they could from it and then passing it along in some appropriate manner to everybody else.  But, I don't see it as being something that should be considered beyond that. 

[Pylon]

A quick check of their website....makes me think that this would be $265 well spent.

I belong to several professional societies, none of which have dues that are more than 40% of that cost.  I've got no problem if we want to suggest joining a group like this, but in now way is it worth the dues of 4-5 senior members to pay for a 1 year membership for a CAP poo-bah. 

I'm not sure what professional associations you belong to, but three of the four professional associations in which I am active have dues greater than $300/year: Public Relations Society of America, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Society of Publication Designers. 

PRSA and AFP, for me, have been particularly helpful to belong to.  My employer does pay all of my professional association dues each year, and in turn I get access to insider newsletters filled with great advice, forecasts, cutting edge stuff and ideas; I get local networking and professional development events on a regular basis; access to national conferences and regular webinars; and an extensive online research library from one of them to name a few tangible and useful benefits. 

So those types of fees are fairly standard; nothing unusual there.  And nothing unusual in the membership fees being paid by the professional's "parent organization".  I'd actually be suspicious of what you're getting by joining a professional association with dues that were substantially lower than that.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I don't believe it is a wise use of CAP funds to pay for our members to join another organization under any circumstances and for any personnel.  In this case, it seems blindingly obvious to me that the only persons likely to get funded are the poo-bahs rather than the guy down at the squadron level. 

That being said, I wouldn't complain about a person from NHQ joining the organization and gleaning what ideas and tips they could from it and then passing it along in some appropriate manner to everybody else.  But, I don't see it as being something that should be considered beyond that. 

I agree that CAP, being a volunteer organization, should not pay for some of its members to maintain professional-association memberships. Individual members foot the bill for everything else, so let them do the same.

I'm a member of the Society for News Design (www.snd.org), and have been for some time, since I'm a professional journalist and visual editor. But should CAP pay my membership? I can't imagine that makes sense. (Of course, if CAP's going to pay for my professional associations, fine -- SND, NPPA and ASNE are fine by me.)

NHQ personnel who join professional organizations are another thing, though. I would think membership in professional organizations, paid for by CAP, are appropriate. Those people are paid staff members, unlike us grunts out in the field.

[Eclipse]

On the surface I don't like the idea, either, but depending on the level its done, a few bucks a year may bring thousands or millions in funding or mission work.

My Group, for example, has to pay annual dues to sit on local SAR councils.

[Pylon]

I'm a member of the Society for News Design (www.snd.org), and have been for some time, since I'm a professional journalist and visual editor. But should CAP pay my membership? I can't imagine that makes sense.

If you were designing the Volunteer, actually I'd hope CAP would pick up your SND membership.  But since you're not using those skills at an executive level in the organization, no it doesn't make sense.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I'm a member of the Society for News Design (www.snd.org), and have been for some time, since I'm a professional journalist and visual editor. But should CAP pay my membership? I can't imagine that makes sense.

If you were designing the Volunteer, actually I'd hope CAP would pick up your SND membership.  But since you're not using those skills at an executive level in the organization, no it doesn't make sense.

Well, they haven't asked me to, but I'd do it, including all the editing, if approached....

[Major Carrales]

Yah I noticed that last night, I went through it, not quite sure what it all is.  What I am getting from it is that you are the "Jack Of All Trades" of the program.  Knowledgeable in every aspect of all parts of the program.   

A few years of Squadron Command easily produces that effect.