We face a number of problems in our country and in our organizations. One of them is that we are largely ineffective at the work of bettering. We try to better this or that by incentivizing change, as though changing for the better were something that needed further incentive than its natural outcome. Another way we try to better our organizations or country is by mandate. We mandate as a method of bettering the behavior or workings of people or organizations.

This doesn't work.

There are many incredible organizations and people that give us hope that more could work in the same ways, but not everyone is ready. If an organization isn't ready to work efficiently then ensuring efficiency will not fix it. Paperwork is not an effective motivator. Betterment cannot be forced, but it can be planned for and supported.

My professor read this poem to us. It highlights a common mistake that we make: focusing more on ways to cure illness rather than prevent it.

"The Ambulance Down in the Valley"

'Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke, and full many a peasant.
The people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said "Put a fence 'round the edge of the cliff,"
Some, "An ambulance down in the valley."

The lament of the crowd was profound and was loud,
As their tears overflowed with their pity;
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day
As it spread through the neighboring city.
A collection was made, to accumulate aid,
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave dollars and cents--not to furnish a fence--
But an ambulance down in the valley.

"For the cliff is all right if you're careful," they said;
"And, if folks ever slip and are dropping,
It isn't the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below--when they're stopping."
So for years (we have heard), as these mishaps occurred
Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff,
With the ambulance down in the valley.

Said one, in a plea, "It's a marvel to me
That you'd give so much greater attention
To repairing results than to curing the cause;
You had much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source;
Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally.
It is far better sense to rely on a fence
Than an ambulance down in the valley."

"He is wrong in his head," the majority said,
"He would end all our earnest endeavor.
He's a man who would shirk this responsible work,
But we will support it forever.
Aren't we picking up all, jut as fast as they fall,
And giving them care liberally?
A superfluous fence is of no consequence
If the ambulance works in the valley."

But a sensible few, who are practical too,
Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;
They believe that prevention is better than cure,
And their party will soon be much stronger.
Encourage them then, with your purse, voice and pen,
And while other philanthropists dally,
They will scorn all pretense and put up a stout fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young, than reclaim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling,
"To rescue the fallen is good, but 'tis best
To prevent other people from falling."
Better close up the source of temptation and crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley
Better put a strong fence 'round the top of the cliff
Than an ambulance down in the valley.

 (by Joseph Malins as posted here)

I'd like to be more bipartisan, and I try all the time — because the right gets it Right a lot. They're right to want to say "get up and do something about your life," because at some point it comes down to each of us individually. At some point we've got to decide to climb a little higher if we're going to leave life better than we came in. The Right says TEACH a man to fish.

The Left gets it right too though. Not everyone can make that first step. Some people are born into a situation where they're first step is booby-trapped. For some people it's not just a first step, but a leap like Batman made to get out of the pit in The Dark Knight Rises — and it took Batman more than one try by the way. The Left says GIVE a man a fish.

So I'd like to be bipartisan. But the fact is that the choice isn't between GIVE a fish or TEACH to fish. If that was the choice then you'd find me on the Right.

The fact is that the Left is filling a need when they're giving a man a fish and the right isn't teaching anyone to fish. Some people do, don't get me wrong; some people are really helping people get out of where they came from by teaching them everything they know about fishing. Some people do, but that's not the Right, it's just people, and it's too few people.

The Left, through programs and welfare are filling the need of giving people that first fish, that first leg up. Sure they don't do a good job of the follow-up and absolutely necessary teaching about fishing. But no one is doing a good job there, and the Right isn't offering that as an alternate choice.

The Right says get rid of welfare, but doesn't offer to replace it with an option. That's ridiculous. It's stupid. And it's neglectful. The people who need welfare in order to some day climb out of their situation then have no fish and no fishing rod and no knowledge about the secret fishing spots that many of us take for common knowledge.

So it's not "give a fish vs. teach a fish." The choice I see offered to the American people is "give a fish vs. keep the fish for ourselves and hopefully a few of our teachers out there devote their lives to finding and teaching our at-risk populations as much about fishing as they can on their own dime."

Neither is perfect, but at least we're doing something when we offer that first bit of good will.