Packers Championship - "Are there lessons to be learned?"

 

What a Season – The Packers Winning a Championship

“Are there lessons to be learned here?”

By Vince DelaRosa

Oneida, WI – What a year it was for the Green Bay Packers. Who knew this would be the year? It was a great ride, capped off by a spectacular playoff run and topped off with a great victory in the big game. The city, the fans, and the Packer leadership should be very proud of the team.

It was not without sacrifice that this team arose from the dust to become the champions they are today. When I think about the transformation that the Packers made, I can’t help but think, do we (Oneida) have that type of spirit and desire to change, to make better? Does Oneida have what it takes to be a champion in the eyes of its people? Of course we do!

Here is just a little overview on one critical part of the Packers rise. Just think a few years back and what was being said about the man at the center of the transformation of the team, Ted Thompson, the General Manager. Over the last few years, much criticism was thrown towards Ted Thompson. Most of the criticism was from people that wanted things to stay as they were. Even in football you have people who foot-drag and don’t want any change, good thing Ted Thompson didn’t listen to the critics.

One of the most controversial things that occurred during Ted Thompson’s tenure was when Thompson made the difficult decision to build a team around Aaron Rodgers instead of indulging Bret Favre’s antics. It was tiring Bret Favre's dizzying indecision on retirement. “I want to stay, I want to go, I’ll get back to you.” Bret thought it was all right to wait until the last minute, to hold the team and organization up while he decided what he’s going to do. Bret’s actions were a farce and it went on for way to long. But Ted Thompson had enough of this and he did what people in leadership need to do, he made a decision. He was going with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. When this happened many people were calling for Ted to be fired during these days. People wanted Ted fired because he was making changes and trying to improve things.

What this shows is good leadership in an organization is priceless. That’s what Oneida can use. Leadership which makes well thoughtout decisions and sticks with them. That was a critical decision that Ted made, to make a change, to go in a different direction, and that was the difference. That one decision help take the Packers to the next level. One critical decision in an organization that needs change, that can make a world of difference. Maybe Oneida can learn from a lesson like this.

Ted latter revealed, "there's a lot of Packers fans, and you'd like for all of them to think that the organization is being run well," Thompson said. "But you can't worry about that. You have to do your job. And quite frankly, I don't speak on those things anymore. We've moved on."

"I think it truly shows the strength of Ted to stick to his guns, stay the course," said Coach McCarthy, who also played a key role in the decision. "We stayed with the plan. We made the decision based on what we felt was the best interests of the Green Bay Packers, and we never budged off of it. It wasn't popular, and it wasn't fun at times, but we felt it was the right decision. And I think why we're standing here today talking about it proves it was the right decision." Even some players we criticizing past decisions, but this year's results validate Thompson's approach.

"I have seen what he's done over his career, and I think it's tremendous," Donald Driver said. "If you go back and look at all the things, certain guys he brought in, certain guys he let go, and these guys go to other teams and play for other teams. And you go, 'Wow, why didn't we keep him? Why'd we let him go?' And in all due respect, Ted made the best decision for this organization, and that's what you have to live with."

Ted recognized that change was needed. Despite his critics and despite mounting pressure to not pursue wholesale changes and personnel reforms, Ted made the changes that were needed to propel the Packers into the championship.  Now, when I think about Oneida, I see that we can use some change ourselves. Maybe one day we can realize a championship of sorts. Only for us the reward won’t be a trophy, it will be the satisfaction of knowing that we are running our tribe in an efficient manner. In Oneida, changes could bring about an era where waste does not reside and where favors are not given to the chosen few.

Change is needed here in Oneida, no one can deny that. Just like the Packers and any other organization that aspires to be better, change needs to occur on occassion. It is through change and meaningful evolution that we achieve the goals that our ancestor would want us to realize. We have a unique history where many of our people suffered during very depressed times so we can be where we are today. With that being said, we have to ask, why are so many of our people still suffering today? Do we think the suffering from the past has earned us this future?

Why is our organization so slow to respond to the real needs of the Oneida people? How can we as a people let this go one for so long? I remember how long the housing waiting list was for so many years, hundreds of people wanted housing and we turned them away, we had no response. Then we re-did the housing list, now today the housing list is growing again, and today, we have no response. There is no relief insight.

For years we had a stagnant pay scale. I have worked on the pay scale, through a petition, as did many others, and today, we have a new system (Valiant) in place but employees can’t get raises. 

Is this the hallmark of a championship organization? Could the Packers have achieved a championship operating under the Oneida model of doing business? Could you imagine Ted Thompson using consultants to do his job for him. Ted runs the team, he makes decisions, he owns up to his management responsibilities. I wonder how the Bret Favre vs. Aaron Rodgers decision would have went if Ted had hired outside consultants to make that decision? Bret would still be running the team right into the ground; throwing the ball away and costing us a championship, just like he did in Minnesota.

We have to change! We can no longer find it acceptable to just get by. We cannot have an organization where obvious cronyism operates in open air. Where people can hire friends and family while qualified people sit on the sidelines unable to contribute or work for the tribe they love. Hiring practices around here are really questionable. No it is not acceptable for people to put their friends and family in certain positions.

When people in high places want to throw breadcrumbs at you and tell you to enjoy your dinner, it’s time to wake up! It’s very obvious that some in the upper levels of management believe they deserve to have fat pockets while others pockets are lined with dust! There seems to be this attitude emanating from some that says, they could care less about any of the pain, the homelessness, the unemployed that we have among us. This is a wake-up call.

Any nation is only as good as how they treat all their people, regardless of who they are. We will be judge dimly by our own history books when we allow our people to go without. When our people have to sleep in the cold and have to go to the Salvation Army for a warm meal; that is saying something.

It is obvious that the day has come for things to change here so we can build a championship team. Just like the Packers did, we all need to recognize that the old ways of doing things is leading us down a very slippery slope.  

Today, if you look at the budget packet for the last budget meeting, the Treasurer revealed in a letter to the GTC that the tribe is facing "extreme difficulty in keeping operational cost in line with FY2011-2013 revenue projections."  The Treasurer's honesty here is very good. Why can’t the OBC keep operational cost in line with revenue projections? This is not just an issue that the Tresurer can control all by herself, she needs assistance to control cost. This is something that the new leadership group will have to look at. 

In fact, we have a $479,172,033.00 budget. We have almost four-hundred and eighty-million dollars in budgetary funds. Ironically, we have a projected deficit of -$47,581,587.00 over the next two years. How is this even possible?

Things are stagnant here, people are unemployed, our money is being wasted, housing stock is low and waiting lists are high. Today employees are being asked to take benefit cuts, no pay raises are available, and we have nearly a four-hundred and eighty-million dollar budget. Can anyone say with a straight face that this place is not being slightly mismanaged?

While all of this is going on we have made a lot of miscues. For example, nearly all of our businesses are losing money. Many of our businesses ventures are under performing and there is no end in sight. There is simply very little leadership here on many of these important issues. How would Ted Thompson respond? Would he sit here idle or would he be cleaning house and building a championship organization. Remember, Ted’s transformation of the Packers has occurred over a five year period, not a lifetime, five years. Unfortunately, some of our mess has been going on for over 20 years or more.

If we keep going like this what will be the results? We’ll have unemployed people unable to get services from us. Housing waiting list will keep rising. Consultants will continue to be hired here to help management manage, and we’ll use across the board cuts and continuing budget resolutions to keep management going. This is no way to lead a nation.

There are a host of serious issues looming ahead for us to deal with. It seems that much of the current leadership is not capable of addressing many of these matters. Budget cuts and reforms are needed here. 

Targeted cuts are needed, not a cut-everything attitude. We have some program activity which needs boost in spending (housing / wages/ social programming / homeless & unemployed) and we also have waste which needs to be eliminated, this is how you control spending. Consequently, today, there is no room in the budgets for pay increases for the Oneida employees and many people are homeless or living 3 and 4 families in one home.

This is not a model which can sustain us as a people. I would also note, this is not a model which can sustain itself. Today, things we are having problems keeping operational cost in line with FY2011-2013 revenue projections.

We are not on our way to building any sort of a championship organization. Until we face the real challenges ahead of us, we will continue to sputter along wondering what’s wrong with us. The answer lies within all of us; we know what needs to be done. What our future holds may be a sad reality if we do not wake up. What would Ted Thompson do here? Punt, close the door, look the other way! Save off decisions for another day? Is this how we lead, is this how we shall live?

Ok, well let's see what another group of people would do. How about the Egyptian's, do you think they'd sit idle through all of this? The status-quo allowed to florish and go unchallenged? How can an unchecked government be allowed to carry on like this? Touch here to see what the Egyptian men and women are doing to protect their interest. They're not sitting idle and neither should we.

Maybe the Egyptian people can be an inspiration to us. They want a championship nation. They are demanding that President Hosni Mubarak leave so they can build a new governing model, a winning team, a better life! Maybe we can draw strength from those people. We need to seek strength somewhere, our kids depend on us to do the right thing.

My hope for the future is that our nation, our tribe can aspire to do what our ancestors wanted us to do! They wanted us all to share equally in the resources of the tribe. They wanted equality amongst the people. We cannot support a system where class warfare or the elites can even exist. The American government is the place where people live in mansions while others sleep under bridges, we cannot have that here! 

We must open our eyes and realize that pay equity, reasonable policies and good governance can all coexist here. Oneida people can be served by their nation and homeless people do not need to be homeless. We can share equitably in the resources of this tribe and we can build a winning organization with the attitude of a champion. It will take all of us to come together to make this happen.

We are a group of amazingly diverse people. We have incredible history on our side. We have survived the worst and we can be the best, it just takes commitment. I see a bright future where we extend a hand to all of our people, not just to the connected ones! I see a future where we want to see the person next to us succeed. I see us being a championship organization one day. 

Similarly, just like Ted Thompson did for the Packers, “I know we can make the best decision for this organization, and that's what we’ll have to live with." The only question we’ll have to live with when we get older is did we make the right decisions today? Our kids will want to know the answer to that question; we better have a good answer.