Lessons in micro-management

Lessons in micro-management

While serving as the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Buffalo, I was naturally concerned with employee productivity and safeguarding taxpayer property.

The City had recently experienced a rash of truck breakdowns in the Streets Department that caused expensive repairs and overtime costs. I asked for a daily breakdown report listing the details of the incident, probable cause and remedial actions.

I kept a close eye of the reports hoping to spot a potential problem that we could address. In this capacity, while reviewing a days breakdown reports, I read the comment “engine missing” in the probably cause column for a truck breakdown.

Assuming the worst, I sent off an angry memo to Ray Flynn, the City’s Chief mechanic at the Broadway Barns for the Streets Department. I stated that this type of situation was scandalous. An entire engine was “missing” and presumed stolen. I demanded the names of the culprits involved, and his ideas on how to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future. I wanted this done at once with a detailed reply on my desk the next day.
Ray Flynn was a long time careers civil servant, competent at his job and properly respectful of the chain of command. He was also much wiser than I. The very next morning I received this tactful reply.

“ We have found the culprits in the incident that you mentioned. They are two malfunctioning spark plugs that have been replaced. The truck engine is no longer “missing” but firing properly on all eight cylinders.

Ray very graciously never mentioned the incident again.

And thereafter, I let the busy mechanics do their job without my help.

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Joseph Xavier Martin