A POSTAL SERMONETTE: IT'S TIME FOR THE USPS TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

The following is a perspective by postal commentator Gene Del Polito. The views expressed are solely the author's.

Everyday, morning, noon, and night, I trawl the web looking for postal stories that may be of interest to PostCom's members and readers. It's been a passion. And, to be perfectly honest, I also go trawling for other interesting stories dealing with other aspects of the way people choose to communicate and do business.

Heck, I'll admit it. I'm a geek. I suppose this comes from being a ham radio operator ever since I was 11 years of age. That's what led me to audiology (my former profession), and that (believe it or not) is what led me to what is today called PostCom. Because the essence of what PostCom does is all about communication (in this case, postal). It's about what communication is, how people use it, how it gets "disordered," and how it gets "rehabilitated."

Earlier today, I posted a piece on the PostCom web site that highlighted four developments that could give you some idea of where technology may be taking how we as a nation communicate and do business. All four involved the use of electronics as an alternative to communication's more historically conventional modes. As part of that post, I noted that the proper response to such changes in life is not to oppose the idea of something being different, but to recognize the change for what it is, and to figure out how to use the change to one's advantage. To embrace it, as I put it.

I've been working in the postal sector for over a quarter of a century. I can tell you for sure that the postal sector (particularly the Postal Service) hasn't been especially noteworthy when it comes to the prospect of embracing change. Change happens, and the Postal Service (eventually) seems to adjust, but not without spending a considerable amount of time holding its breath in protest until it turns blue. (Not a particularly laudable trait.)

If there's one thing that now seems clear, it's that the Postal Service finds itself in the midst of a raging river of change--much in the way that newspaper and magazine publishers find themselves struggling in a flood of technological and sociological change. The same can be said to the Postal Service that other media mavens have been telling newspaper and magazine moguls in recent days. "It's time to wake up and smell the coffee."

In the case of the Postal Service, this can be translated as meaning that it's time to recognize that the 20th century and the salad days of perpetual mail growth are now a matter of history. It's a new millenium, and the realities of yesteryear are not going to return. What this means is that it's time the Postal Service stopped running away from the new streams of technology that are flowing through the nation, and that it's time to figure in which direction the streams are flowing and determining how to take advantage of the flow to achieve the mission for which it was created, i.e., to ensure that the nation will have sufficient access to a physical message delivery system--for as long as such a system is actually needed.

It also means that it's time for the Postal Service to get on with the task of re-engineering its product lines to provide a set of services that the nation wants, values, and is willing to pay to receive. To some respect, these services will have to encompass some of the very technologies that have just about brought the U.S. Postal Service to its fiscal knees.

Whether the Postal Service has within itself the ability to rise to such a challenge may very well be determined by the skill, insightfulness, and leadership of its own management team. Here's a frame of reference I would ask you to entertain.

Think of the Governors of the Postal Service as being the equivalent of the manager of a baseball team. Now, think about the team. Who, of all the players who take to the field, plays the commanding role regarding how successfully a ball game is played? Why, it's the pitcher, of course. If the pitcher is good, he strikes out his opponents or at least delivers pitches that make it less likely that they'll score.

Who else is important? Yes, it's those who eventually come up to bat. Those are the people who are responsible for putting scores on the board. And there are two ways of doing it. One is to come to the plate every time trying to swing for a home run. Baseball statistics will tell you that actually getting that home run is not a frequent event. Invariably, those who believe the game is about swinging for the fences are those who are most likely to strike out.

The other way of fielding a baseball offense is simply by mating the meat of your bat with balls thrown within the strike zone with the aim of getting on base. Singles and doubles have a more common occurrence than putting one over the fence. And it's by putting men on base and moving them around the bases that ball games are actually won. So, if you want to win games, you've got to have players who understand the value of just getting on base.

Let's go back to the pitcher. As I said, the pitcher controls the pace and the tenor of the game. He is, while he's on the field, the leader of the team. Oh sure, they call others "captains," but this is the guy who has the power to control the game.

Now, what does a good manager do when a pitcher just can't seem to get control of his game? He pulls him and replaces him with another, hopefully one that will regain control of the game to give his teammates a chance to score some runs when the team comes to bat.

And what happens to the manager who just can't seem to discern when his pitcher needs to be pulled? Well, the owner of the team fires the manager and brings in another.

The challenge that faces this Postal Service today is whether it has a manager and pitcher that can control the game. It will be up to the pitcher to show he deserves the manager's continued support and remain on the mound. And it will be up to the manager to show the owner he deserves his privileged seat in the dugout.

So where does the Postal Service's team stand today? And where will it stand tomorrow? Good questions. Anybody out there with a clear crystal ball?