Establishing a Fait Accompli
Administrative Decision-Making
Surprisingly Careless
During my 15 years as a public servant, including three years in a planning department and involvement in various ordinance formulations, plans, and real-world projects, I have witnessed many administrative decisions and political judgments.
Before becoming a public servant and during my initial time in the Building Guidance Division, I naively assumed that administrative policy decisions were made through rigorous processes and professional management judgments because they shape the future of a city, and I vaguely thought of them as being in a distant world.
However, after experiencing the actual policy-making process and meeting discussions, I found them to be 'surprisingly careless,' which led me to believe that I, too, could carry out various policies and projects.
Based on my experience supporting many local governments and being involved in various ways, this is not limited to Nagareyama City; similar things are repeated in every local government, albeit with significant differences in degree.
Value Judgments Different from the Private Sector
In the policy-making process, huge budgets are sometimes approved based on the fact that they are 'stated in the plan,' by taking a snippet of text from a basic plan that was almost entirely outsourced to consultants. The vision of 'why we are doing this' is not shared, and a single general, abstract expression passes through simple approval documents and verbal explanations.
In another meeting, a project that was scheduled to be abolished due to various rights issues was wiped clean by a single remark from a department head who shouted, 'Even if the usage rate of this facility is low, it has a historical background and there are people actually using it!'
Regarding the construction of a station's free passage, there was a time when the city was on autopilot, thinking, 'The city will bear the full financial burden!' based solely on the word 'petition station' written in a document submitted by a railway company years ago to advance discussions (I was in charge of this matter and negotiated with the railway company, and it settled into a somewhat more rational form, lol).
Even just by citing these few examples, it is clear that the administration often uses thought circuits, principles of action, and value judgments that are completely different from the 'management' judgments of private companies.
Establishing a Fait Accompli Before Anyone Notices
In the administration (though not in all cases, but in many situations), such 'surprisingly careless decision-making' and value judgments take place, and even when it is ambiguous whether something has been decided or not, it sometimes becomes a fait accompli before anyone notices.
The aforementioned act of 'taking a snippet from a plan' is a typical example. To my shame, when I was a public servant, I would thoroughly read the comprehensive plan to propose a new project, interpret only the parts convenient for me from the general and abstract wording, and write in the draft document that 'this is positioned to be done in the comprehensive plan' more than once or twice.
In a project I am currently supporting, there was a staff member who still insisted that a bubbly and unrealistic pedestrian deck development plan created decades ago (probably by outsourcing to a consultant) was a 'living plan.' When I asked how well that plan was recognized, there was no clear answer, and opinions varied from person to person.
Isn't it the case that the development of public facilities, which have scaled out from the local government size and lack set-up content, flows in a piecemeal fashion from basic concept outsourcing—which was done 'somehow'—to basic plan, implementation plan, basic design, detailed design, and construction?
Things That Should Have Been Decided
What is even more troublesome is that things that 'should have been decided' in meetings or approvals are easily overturned in subsequent budget formulation or coordination with the assembly.
In other words, decision-making itself is ambiguous in the administration.
In the annual PPP introductory course and my book 'The First Book to Read When Working on PPP/PFI,' I explain this in detail as the importance of 'deciding how to decide,' citing examples such as Nagareyama City's FM Strategy Meeting and Tottori City's PPP Priority Consideration Regulations.
Strategically Establishing a Fait Accompli
Because It Is an Irrational Organization
While the administration has an image of being 'stiff' in the general public's sense, it is, as shown here, a 'surprisingly careless' and irrational organization. Conversely, it can be said that there is a great opportunity inherent here to move various things forward.
Getting Approval
What is important is to create and run as many three-dimensional projects as possible. Considering the various phenomena surrounding the city and the rapidly changing trends of the world, there is no time or leeway left to act 'properly.'
Even if it is not necessarily theoretical or a standard approach, there is no choice but to do it in a gritty and honest way. Many local governments that cannot move things forward well are obsessed with how to get on the existing (supposed) policy-making route of the city and how to get unanimous agreement from citizens and assembly members, and in the end, they wear themselves out because they cannot move forward.
For example, when I was a public servant, I invited a department head who would not stamp a document for a project to a drink, saying, 'Come to think of it, we've never had a drink together. I heard you know a good place, so treat me for once,' and got him dead drunk. The next morning, when I presented the approval document without any explanation as a thank you, he stamped it in no time. Even this has no legal problems as it has obtained approval as an official document.
Unfortunately, most of the resistance forces against 'projects that sincerely face the city' do not have superior projects or methodologies, but are merely rebelling for reasons like 'it's hard for me, I don't understand, or I don't want to take the risk.' They do not have any (legitimate) policy.
It is too wasteful to abandon a future that should be within reach for such reasons. Rather than lining up pretty words, theories, and correct arguments, what is important is the evidence of decision-making as an organization and advancing the project based on that. There is no need to be fixated on the means.
Positioning in the Plan
As mentioned above, in administration, there are often cases where "something written in a plan" becomes the evidence for a project, regardless of the quality or process involved.
This means that if you strategically position the project you want to do within the scope of executive authority for a plan, policy, or guideline (or even better, something that does not require approval from the head of the local government), the possibility of being able to do it becomes very high.
If terms like "prevention of global warming and reduction of environmental impact," "planned renewal of aging facilities," and "active utilization of private sector know-how and funds" are positioned in existing administrative plans (even if they are scattered across several plans), then an ESCO project should be an option for the renewal of air conditioning and lighting equipment in public facilities.
Showing it internally and externally
Outreach is another effective and accessible method.
By posting information on the internal LAN or inside elevators at the government office, as seen with Tsuyama City's "Tsuyama FM Newsletter," you can appeal to stakeholders about what you are doing and what you want to do in the future on a daily and regular basis, allowing you to deliver information passively even if they are not consciously paying attention.
In Anan City, a team of volunteer staff for public facility management launched a dedicated website to promote what they are thinking about and the trial soundings they are actively conducting at the government office, science center, and other locations.
In Nagareyama City (though it seems they are not doing it now, they were at the time), they would invite guest speakers 5 to 6 times a year to conduct staff training, promoting the idea that the "projects they are planning to do" were effective and attractive. By aggregating, analyzing, and publishing the results of surveys conducted in a standard format each time, they also made staff who were unmotivated or lacked understanding realize that they were in the minority and were outdated.
Also, during times when internal communication and awareness were low or relations with the assembly were poor, they would strategically win awards to gain external recognition, thereby suppressing opposition forces while quietly slipping new projects into presentation materials for applications or award ceremonies to establish them as a fait accompli.
Furthermore, when FM-related questions were asked during general assembly sessions, they would answer the necessary points in their response and then attempt to establish a fait accompli by leaving it in the minutes, saying things like, "In the future, we would like to apply this know-how to develop... as well."
Experience is the key
Skills for establishing a fait accompli
In the case of administration, as mentioned above, decisions are often made "vaguely" or "without anyone knowing when they were decided." Making good use of this is what is required for the sake of the town.
This means that the skill of how to efficiently establish a fait accompli is required, but there is no one who suddenly possesses that skill at a high level.
It is about practicing various projects, even if they are on a small scale. And in the process of realizing them, various "empirical knowledge" will be accumulated.
Once this empirical knowledge is accumulated, it becomes easier to advance projects through a synergistic effect with establishing a fait accompli (though it does not always go well).
What is important is to connect it to a project
If a town sits idly by, keeps looking away from reality, or just pretends to be doing something, it will decline at an accelerating rate.
What is important is to shape what you can do now, one by one, honestly and steadily. It is not about creating a plan. You will gain nothing by worrying about the feelings of citizens, superiors, the head of the government, the assembly, or vested interests, or by trying to read between the lines.
To that end, you should not be picky about the means; establishing the path to what you want to do as a fait accompli one by one is by no means pretty, but it is one way of living in reality. At Machimirai, we fully support towns that are desperately trying to move forward.