Just as doctors practice their bedside manner, politicians practice being sincere. Politicians become experts at "looking good like a candidate should." Many news media personalities are also paid big salaries because they look good and appear to be sincere, conveying a sense of integrity that captures a bigger audience than that of the competition. Politicians and news media people have an advantage over doctors since they are just a little more detached from the focus or personal context of the individual citizen than are doctors from their patients. They also do not have to maintain detailed records, nor is it likely that anyone will file a malpractice suit against them, although they do worry a little about libel suits.
Likewise, people in the entertainment industry are largely unaccountable simply because they admit to being actors. They have instant emotional capital among their fans, so they can influence a large number of people. Once again, technology plays a significant role in enabling actors to attain such influence. Properly used, that influence can be positive. When used simply to support a narrow or polarized special interest agenda, an actor's influence can be problematic. Like politicians and news media people, popular entertainers are difficult to hold accountable, especially in the absence of a critical framework such as Technidigm-2000.
In contrast to doctors, politicians, entertainers, and news media personalities, industrial plant managers are likely to be held strictly accountable. In particular, nuclear plant managers can not afford to just "look good," at least not for very long. They must operate their nuclear plants under the scrutiny of independent inspectors who get paid to make long lists of discrepancies. The nuclear assessment guides that I have provided in the nuclear safety section of this web site each indicate the type of detailed and coordinated inspections that are applied to nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities. If a nuclear plant manager or worker is not on-the-level, it is likely that they will be identified as contributing to the "root causes" of problems or potential problems.
In contrast, we deal with our doctors one-on-one and can more readily sense their true level of competence and forthrightness. It is also easier for us to find another doctor who is more competent and forthright than it is to find better politicians and news media personalities. We have more control. One Technidigm-2000 objective is to motivate politicians and the news media to act more like doctors when it comes to dealing with society's ills. While such a ojective may be unattainable with regard to all politicians and all of the news media, we can hope to achieve an improvement trend across the political scene and the media industry.
Medicine is also an industry. Doctors are increasingly expected to perform their services within a profit-and-loss organization, and they are more vulnerable than most professionals to legal actions. Some doctors and health management organizations take illegal advantage of public health programs sponsored by the government. Without inherent integrity, it is relatively easy for those in the medical industry to steal from the public coffers. Likewise, many government contractors have figured out how to extract undeserved profits from the government. Indeed, the government seems to have established many avenues for off-the-level individuals and companies to thrive.
Thus, the importance of integrity is readily apparent, but a consistent and comprehensive approach to demanding integrity is needed. Technidigm-2000's emphasis on being on-the-level places a premium on integrity. The other 11 elements allow each of us to achieve high levels of integrity and concurrently discourage the kind of "flim flam" that permeates much of our modern, complex society.
When we know that we can depend on someone else's integrity to help us make decisions, we feel comfortable dealing cooperatively with even the most complex and obscure issues. It is often just too hard for each of us to deal personally with issues within the context of their comprehensive set of facts. We are in a constant search for persons of integrity who at least claim to know what is right to do in various circumstances. Under Technidigm-2000 it becomes easier to sort out such claims, and it also becomes easier to identify people of integrity. Moreover, levels and self-assessment scores provide dramatic competency sorters and filters.
The nuclear industry depends greatly on personal integrity and unreserved cooperation, as do the independent assessment teams that inspect nuclear plants and facilities. There are many different "functional areas" at nuclear plants, and their interfaces with each other and with management are complex. An example of these interfaces is provided in the management assessment guidance, which includes "top-down" assessments of management that are highly integrated with the "bottom-up" assessments of each of the several technical functions. This total-context approach allows the identification of multiple causes of problems -- all of the "root causes." Such assessments are applicable to many industries that have significant safety responsibilities and that must rely on individual integrity.
An appearance of integrity is a lot easier to develop than true integrity, so it should not surprise us that some of the most successful politicians merely appear to have integrity. Indeed, true integrity often gets in the way of developing an appearance of integrity. In our sound-bite society, the appearance of integrity has become more effective than true integrity, especially for successful politicians. Bill Clinton's raised eyebrows and ambiguous language convince us that he will always do the right thing regardless of the issue, setting the standard in some respects for all professional politicians. We seek to improve or turn around such standards using Technidigm-2000, making "doing the right thing" a reality rather than a dream.
Successful politicians seeking re-election find it even easier to appear to be honest, capable, and knowledgeable simply by avoiding responsibility for what went wrong during their tenure. With incumbency-based name recognition, most politicians can get re-elected just by maintaining appearances and never admitting to any faults. Politicians having integrity are more easily defeated because they will admit their mistakes. Thus, without a direct emphasis on integrity and real substance, we are likely to have unscrupulous and unqualified politicians running things.
In the nuclear industry, one goal is to improve each nuclear plant's safety record continuously. This requires positive recognition for good performance records and negative consequences for not-so-good performance records. Under Technidigm-2000, time and feedback (discussed more in later chapters) elements are used to generate positive recognition and negative feedback quantitatively, making integrity a significant component of one's qualifications for any leadership role. With integrity quantified, it becomes easier for us to look at experience and education in identifying our most capable and deserving leaders.
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