Disclaimer: As well as being an auDA Member, I am now an auDA Demand Class Director. The article below is my personal opinion, and does not purport to be the views of auDA.
People in charge of companies, businesses and organisations make decisions because they think or believe that they are in the best interests of the entity. And they are probably sincere in their beliefs.
Same happens with Governments – be they Local, State or Federal.
Sometimes, many of these decisions are not unanimous. There are always factions that “have the numbers”, and thus decisions are made as a “collective”. All the minority can do is note their objections for the record. That’s the way the system works.
Consequences
But when the changes they enact or propose to enact have not been well thought out; or communicated properly; i.e. not popular with “stakeholders” or “voters”, that’s when trouble arises. People tend to protest or agitate. It seems to be the way of the world these days.
Then comes the “spin” cycle by the entity. Justification. And if that doesn’t work, then another tactic is to “play the man rather than the ball”. But generally, that tends to backfire.
There are many examples of this. In fact, auDA had its own instance occur on 31st July 2017. (For those not aware, auDA is a membership organisation). Members were aggrieved by broken promises and unilateral decisions, so they decided to use the Corporations Act and the auDA Constitution to hold the organisation to account. They succeeded spectacularly. In the interests of full disclosure, I was one of four members who originated the Grumpy campaign. I was not a Director back then.
Yet Another Instance
My article today was spurred on by events last week at Trinity Grammar in Melbourne. These excerpts from The Age explain:
Trinity Grammar is under siege from its own alumni association, which has demanded the principal and school council stand down over their management of the prestigious school and the dismissal of popular deputy-headmaster Rohan Brown for cutting a student’s hair.
Just one event perhaps handled poorly? Not really – if you read through the article, it seems as if this “haircut” was just the catalyst to try and enforce change.
“For several months now, the school council has been bombarded with emails and letters expressing concerns about the direction of the school such as its current preoccupation with academic excellence at the expense of a more holistic offering that Trinity was known,” Mr Williams and Mr Verso said.
“The council members have not responded in any meaningful way to these concerns. They have not entered into reasonable dialogue with concerned individuals, but instead, they have closed ranks and tried to tough it out, in the erroneous belief that their vision for the school is the correct one,” they said.”
Read The Tea Leaves
My old Mother reckoned she could “read tea leaves”, but no one ever believed her! But it is a great saying. It is simply a metaphor for trying to decipher what lies ahead. Sometimes you can be right, and other times you can be wrong.
Ned O’Meara – 12th March 2018
Disclaimer
The cabal has chosen not to replace the vacant demand director position for over three months.
Furthermore, they have chosen not to ensure a small business representative is on the Policy Review Panel to speak on equal terms with the other stakeholder representatives.
Supply side bias?
auda should step in and stop the farce that it is the Policy Review Panel. It is underrepresented and biased.