Last Friday was the closing date for applications of Melbourne CEO Designer me a job City.
It is understood the a few "want to be" In-house applicants have put their name in the hat hoping that their name will be the one chosen to feather the bed of their colleagues.
Current acting CEO Geoff Lawler would have to be one of the most unsuccessful choices to make, his approach to adopting Melbourne's Strategic Plan, a con game of pin the tail on the strategy, would have to be remembered as one of the most stupid ill-considered and poorly executed exercises in strategic planning ever on record.
Lawless's idea of Strategic goal setting was to ask selected participants to place up to five issues they considered important on a white board and from the placement and content pin together a Strategic plan that misrepresented the true facts and concerns raised, but he got away with it. Lawless may have a chance as he has been the compliant force behind Melbourne's ill-fated push for a car-less city. Something small retail business in Melbourne dread. Large Retails stores have already deserted the city center in favour of the car frinedly suburban shopping centers. Lawless stagegy at work.
Another in-house applicant is Scott Chapman. Scott is the most travelled of the City Directors he was the one that come up with the idea of a world shopping Spree tour for Council staff to check out the competition. Whilst Scott comes with numerous appraisals the question is can he stand alone and say no to the "design me a better job" senior staff who are hungry for a better life style paid for by the ratepayers of Melbourne.
It is understood that Linda "It's not accounted until it is acquitted " Weatherston is looking for a new job. She has the unfortunate position in that she is the only non male gender in the senior management design team. But she is no Elizabeth Proust and rumour has it she is looking for a job in with one of the international NGO aid agencies. Best of luck, Melbourne will be the better for the change of career.
Rob Adams is another name that has been mooted around but again Rob's credibility took a major blow back in the 1990's when Bamboo Rob compromised his integrity and bowed down under pressure and supported the disastrous ill-considered relocation of Melbourne's Museum from the City Centre to the outskirts. Like Denton Cork and Marshal Robs tenure needs serious review. It is time Melbourne adopted a new design guru and someone that has not been compromised to the extent Rob has. The other factor that rules Rob out is that he really does not have the commercial business skills required for the top job so he not a real contender.
The City Council is best once again looking outside of the City, finding someone that is not tainted by the in-house "design me a job crowd" someone that can provide professional guidance and management of a major capital city.
Melbourne has not had much luck in appointing the best of the best since Elizabeth Proust and Andy Friend vacated the job. The rot set in under former Geelong CEO Michael Malouf. The Council lost all integrity and professionalism, staff numbers went thorough the roof as the council embarked on empire building and the sought of corruption and lack of professionalism that creeps in when staff begin to lose perspective and professional standards decline. Without any doubt Malouf's reign of terror was the seed of destruction and decline of Melbourne golden age of administrators. It has been all down hill since then.
Will John So get it right the second time around.
John is once again looking to find a replacement CEO for the City. Dissapointed Applicants for the top job can always rely on the fact that the process of head hunting will inevitably involve a breach of confidentiality as information on the selection process and applicants is widely discussed around the corridors and coffee spots where staff so often spend most of their time chatting was opposed to doing their job. Any disappointed applicant can rest assured that they can take legal action against the City Council who will inevitably settle out of court for an undisclosed sum of money as opposed to face a possible court ruling against the City Council and the need to payout even more in compensation. (Roumours have ot that a concerened applcant recioved a hefty sum of monye in compendation for the Council's head hunting skills or lack there of)
The problem with the Council's selection process is that staff are required to provide secretarial support for the selection committee and inevitable those staff will report back to their boss the outcomes of deliberations. After all it is in the interest of the secretarial staff to keep their boss happy and accustomed to the designer job life style they are use to.
A more professional approach would be to contract out the secretarial support to the head hunting agency thus placing all responsibility for confidentiality out of reach of the City administration.
Christmas is renowned for the time when administration make the worst of the worst decisions.
A time when the community's attention span is at its lowest. Having made a decision the administration will inevitably either try and forget it or will dutifully implement the resolution on their return in the new year when hopefully Melbourne will make the right choice and fid someone worthy of the $300.000 plus bonuses salary.
Happy Christmas
