Thanks to The Daily Show, I have a show-piece of how not to create a flow chart. They pointed out this insane representation of the FEMA workflow taken directly from the FEMA Web site. If you don't believe it, click the graphic and see a screenshot of the Web site with the graphic in context. It will probably be taken down this week if anybody at FEMA with a brain is paying attention.
I can't say anything anymore than what was said on The Daily Show. However, with the recent negative focus on FEMA recently, stuff like this just gives ammunition to the comedians and the critics alike. FEMA is in the middle of a huge shake up and I think it's time to learn something from all of this.
Michael Brown is the ultimate scapegoat character in the Katrina story. I watched politicians in the hearings a couple of days ago just rip him up and down mercilessly. Then they pretty much gave Kathleen Blanco a pass on her indecision, conflict with Mayor "School Bus" Nagin, and orders to turn away the Red Cross and Salvation Army (see also Experts: Focus on terrorism delays FEMA response to Katrina (hat tip: Cafe Hayek).
"We've tried desperately to rescue 250 people trapped in a Salvation Army facility. They've been trapped in there since the flood came in. Many are on dialysis machines," said Maj. George Hood, national communications secretary for the relief organization.
"Yesterday we rented big fan boats to pull them out and the National Guard would not let us enter the city," he said. The reason: a new plan to evacuate the embattled city grid by grid – and the Salvation Army's facility didn't fall in the right grid that day, Hood said in a telephone interview from Jackson, Miss.
The National Guard was operating under direction of the State of Louisiana–not FEMA.
Lesson one: Things are not fair. Prepare yourself for unfair treatment.
One thing about Michael Brown that bothered me greatly was his exaggerated resume. If you or I falsified our resumes, we'd be booted from any private company. That is grounds for dismissal. Period. That gives all of us a little insight into the fact that Michael Brown is not all he wants you to think he is. But just because he's not a quality person doesn't mean he's in league with Satan. However, since he is a scapegoat, all of his past indiscretions will surface.
Lesson two: In your professional life, do things better and cleaner than others. You don't want somebody finding professional indiscretions and using them against you when it hits the fan. Plus, you'll feel better about yourself.
Okay, we all expect the government to be bureaucratic, slow, and painful to work with. I've heard complaints from private, corporate donors that FEMA requires so much paperwork and processes to be followed, it's hard to give supplies to the relief effort through FEMA. Processes are good when they are used to keep everybody involved coordinated. They are not good when they exist strictly to exist.
Lesson three: Keep things simple. Streamlining processes saves time and money. Continually look for ways to improve processes and remove unnecessary obstacles.
Finally, as we look back at the graphic above, we can see clearly that FEMA's communication problems exist at every level. From the coordination of efforts to the public image they present. There is no excuse for that graphic to exist on their Web site. Plus, there seems to be a lot of he said, she said rhetoric between Brown and Blanco. I don't know how much of the actions taken were documented either in a database, memo form, or in a timeline document. Professional technical communicators exist to document things accurately. Apparently FEMA needs to hire some, at least to review and edit the Web site.
Lesson four: Take communication seriously. Hire professional writers to document processes, actions, and public communication. All of the process improvement in the world will do no good if it's not written down clearly and concisely. It's not about CYA as much as it's about recording the reality.
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