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Rosie the Riveter seemed to be the very definition of American competence. One of the many jobs American women were recruited to perform in WWII was to make fighters and bombers. For example, they took part in building the SBD Dauntless dive bombers that performed spectacularly and were essential to winning the Battle of Midway.

The word “competence” seems to be coming up a lot these days (by these days, I mean years) as we look at how our federal government is functioning. Some people have recently questioned whether the current definition of competence is relevant suggesting that it’s not just “skill and efficacy” but also “judgment, humility and empathy.” Rather than redefine competence, which one dictionary defines as “the ability to do something successfully or efficiently,” performing an act with humility and exercising empathy seem like additional qualities that don’t quite fit.

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When you want to lose weight, you track the number of pounds you lose each week. When parents want to know how their kids are doing in school, they look at their report cards. When board members want to know how their firm is doing, they look at the profits the firm earned. When Congress wants to know whether federal agencies are making progress toward their goals, they cover their ears and yell “Yah, yah, yah, I can’t hear you.” Actually, most federal agency managers think it’s just peachy that that’s the response because the last thing they want is accountability.

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Have you heard about the case that involves the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a Pennsylvania Amish organic farmer, Amos Miller? He runs a farm that features raw milk, cheese, butter and meat from cows, goats, sheep, camels, buffalo, chickens, ducks and geese. The larger animals are all organically grass fed. The audacity. In a blog about the federal case against Miller, David Gumpert sarcastically says that federal agricultural officials treat him as “an uppity Amish Boy.”

So why is there a case against Miller?

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The origin of the term “better safe than sorry” goes back to a book written in 1837, Rory O’More. The rest of the phrase is, “It makes sense (and is certainly safer to take precautionary measures before anything bad happens).” A lot of parents use the safe/sorry logic on kids when they admonish them to stop playing in the street or put on sunscreen. In regulatory agencies, this sentiment has given rise to overestimating risks and using the “precautionary principle” when managing them.

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The following takes place in the canned green beans idea meeting.

Alright fellas, we’ve been holding this meeting for six years now and no one has come up with an idea on how we can make more money selling canned green beans. Come on guys, give me something.

Silence.

“Well, OK, I guess I have an idea.”

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Smoka Cola combines the best of tobacco and sugary beverages. Kids will love it!

Well, something will have to be done about that! It’s the government’s responsibility. To get them started, let’s put together a petition that describes 1) the problem; 2) the law that must govern it (and if there’s no law, let’s go to Congress because we all know how efficient they are); and 3) what the regulation should say. Let’s give the regulatory agency a year or two to hold some hearings and then, once they have decided what to do, about 4 ½ years to put out a regulation.

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