Guest Blog #5 - Bob Stovall

Labels Are for Show.

Am I red or blue – liberal or conservative – progressive or stuck in the Stone Age? I don’t know. I had a 7th grade teacher who was considered to be a flaming liberal. He had lots of fun with us during the Goldwater-Johnson election (Okay – now you know I’ve been doing this for a long time). A few years later he was seen as a conservative, even though his position on topics of importance had not radically changed.



I have learned over the years that labels are wonderful for political ads and talk shows, but they don’t solve challenging governance issues. Unfortunately labeling continues on the floors of our governing bodies where all too often the objective is the same as elections – to win.

There’s a problem with ideologies and agendas - they don’t work. I have watched over the years as karma runs over dogma and ideological positions got crosswise with themselves. In real life I have never seen a business decision made based on red or blue.

If I could write the rules of debate for the legislature (see – even I want power) I would require a few simple but relevant questions.

Let ‘s start with the threshold questions:

• What problem is the bill trying to solve or need is it trying to meet?
• Wait a minute – is it really a problem or need in the first place?
• If that answer is yes, can the problem really be solved or the need be met by a law?

If these are truly yes answers, then there are practical questions:

• How will this bill solve the problem or meet the need?
• Better yet, how will the bill create the opportunity for the affected people to solve the problem?
• Is there another solution that might work better?

Legislators always hate these questions:

• Who is hurt by the problem – hopefully not just one or two friends?
• Who is hurt by the solution?
• How much is the problem costing?
• How much will the solution cost? I don’t mean fiscal note cost, I mean costs to everyone affected.
• What problems will the solution create?

Remember – I said the questions were simple; I did not say the answers were simple.

If government were ever to be run more like business, it needs to ask the right questions. If business does not identify the problem or need correctly and if it does not create the proper solution or satisfy the need in a cost effective manner, that business will not survive.

Unfortunately that is not true when it comes to government solutions – they tend to stick around even if they don’t work.

Bob Stovall
President, Gain-Stovall, Inc.