The Gauntlet

There is a great scene from the Clint Eastwood movie, “The Gauntlet”. The Clint Eastwood character is asked, “Why do you think they gave you this job?” and Eastwood responds, “Because I get the job done”. His boss retorts, “No, it’s because you don’t get the job done, you were never supposed to get this job done”. And that, in a nutshell is what we call the Gauntlet syndrome.

When an analyst is brought in on a hopeless task for the sake of either showing progress, or for documenting that everything conceivable has been done and we are still failing. This is the nefarious twist. The same result occurs when the analyst is brought in on a project with a known outcome. You are there to prove that the right solution has already been discovered. Woe be to the analyst that thinks they can make a difference or perhaps worse yet, finds an actual solution to the problem. What’s left is nothing short of having to run a bureaucratic gauntlet that will leave you bloody and near dying if you have the guts to run through.

Most don’t have the guts to run through it, or having started will back down when their health begins to fail. Let’s say on some odd occasion the analyst makes it through. Perhaps, they might exclaim, “I stuck to it and I won, and the system works”. This is the height of nonsense. The system did not work if it takes months or years for the truth the emerge and for people to put everything on the line in it’s pursuit. Also, should you win, the ramifications could be the stigma of someone who was noble in their efforts but could be labeled as not a team player or someone who was a zealot in their own right.

We have seen this many times before. The best analyst is the one who can maintain a bit of independence from a problem. The best advocate is someone with a true interest in correcting the problem. If you are close to the issue you might be willing to run the gauntlet. If you are removed you will probably be unwilling to get bloody over the issue even if you know you have the truth in the palm of your hand.

So by definition the system does not work. And we, all of us, are perhaps no greater than the Eastwood character. We were brought in believing we can get the job done. But no one actually believed that we could, or we were really just supposed to go through the actions to support an a priori answer, or worse a decision that had already been made. This just makes us process bureaucrats and you don’t need a whole lot of education in our disciplines to be one of those.

So you have to decide each time – as you peer down through the gauntlet. Do you have enough protection to make it through? Is this one worth getting bloody over? This will probably be the most frustrating dilemma you will have to face. We can only offer that at times like these, if you haven’t done your homework, if you haven’t done the analysis to the best of your ability, if you haven’t followed the prescription for the truth that we hope we have captured as you move forward through these pages, this might not be the time to run down the rabbit hole. But if you have, if you are in possession of the facts, and have the answers to the majority of the questions that will come from both sides of the gauntlet, can there be anything short of life and death combat that could bring heighten your sense of awareness and make you feel alive. Don’t let it consume you; don’t let the sleepless nights ruin your health. But do occasionally run the gauntlet. That is what you are getting paid to do.

The Analyst: Bold--Gusting to Arrogant

A colleague once told me that an analyst must be bold--gusting to arrogant. Those are some of the wisest words I’ve ever heard with regard to this profession –that of the professional analyst. Typically, or stereotypically, we are meek, akin to the computer geek or CPA. We can be seen perhaps lunching with the engineers, all of us sporting pocket protectors with outdated neckties and short sleeve shirts. A great professional analyst, on the other hand, must by definition be bold and not meek. It is their job to question everything, and then with the important knowledge gained, help those who have hired them to either solve their problems or answer their questions.

Unfortunately, to do this correctly, we must gain considerable knowledge in the pursuit of an answer. Often we become so knowledgeable that our understanding exceeds that of our employers. If we show our cards too early, we can be labeled as arrogant. By definition though, if we indeed have a solution to our employer’s problem, we are smarter, at least on the subject under consideration. Therefore we must be bold to be heard.

If, however, there is something missing, and we are not smarter than our employers and our solution is either inadequate or is rejected, we have either failed to understand the problem completely or we were hired to help with a problem that was not intended to be solved (Let’s call this the Gauntlet for you Clint Eastwood fans). If either happens we work harder, quit, or slip into analyst purgatory. Analyst Purgatory or AP is that waiting room on the way to Hell where we might get a second chance. When we find ourselves, as we inevitably do, staring at the bleak walls of AP, we still have options we can take.

We can join with the devil thereby completely sealing our fate by becoming the chambermaids of our master to assist him with his evil plans. We can become prostitutes by selling our services to the highest bidder, remaining neutral on ethics, but affirming the remainder of our lives will continue to exist in the AP of our creation. We can leave the profession completely. Or, as I would like to be the option you have chosen exhibited by your desire to participate and contribute to this blog, you can attempt to elevate our profession, with me, above the charlatans and whores that practice all around us.

We must pursue truth in everything we do. We must leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of the truth; to strive for less would be to strive for something incomplete, and most likely something to label as incompetent. For if our recommendations are followed, and they are not the truth, what is left is blind luck. We might as well have rolled the dice, kicked up our feet, took a nap, and waited for a paycheck. But to pursue the truth, to really find the answers to the questions we seek, we must be bold, very bold. To do so requires rock solid faith, abundant energy, and complete competence. When you have faith, energy, and competence you are bold – perhaps not yet gusting to arrogant, but you will gust soon, perhaps alienating those around you, perhaps winning the respect you deserve – there will be time for humility after you’ve solved world hunger.

In the mean time there is no room for the incompetent in our profession. Why would those with problems to solve choose to hire the incompetent? That would be the height of irony. It unfortunately, is not just a good question, it is a reality that happens everyday, and there are reasons it happens, some, like the sinister Gauntlet will be addressed in the days and weeks to come. Other reasons will remain a sacred mystery, but most, fortunately are simply the landscape of a profession that has forgotten how to discover the truth.

We are all ignorant when we first come upon a new problem to solve; as we start we know very little about the problem. There are other essays and professional works that can help you discover the problem and how to define things, then later how to solve things. This blog is not about the analysis process proper. This blog is about seeking the truth. So as we begin each problem anew, ignorant but hopefully with motivation, it is our next step that will dictate competence or incompetent behavior. We cannot predict which. Nonetheless, our first principle should be clearly stated here--

Discovering the truth is not easy, but if you strive for it, pursuit of the truth keeps you closer to path of competence rather than the one of incompetence. However, there are no guarantees.

So let’s begin boldly and gust arrogant as we go along.