Just this once…

The recent budget crisis made me think of a dangerous word. Precedent. Precedent isn't necessarily a bad thing. The precedent of Supreme court cases allow many of the freedoms we enjoy today, but far too often precedent becomes synonymous with being taken advantage of.

Currently the Republicans forced a government shutdown because they are attempting to circumvent a law they do not like, yet already passed both legally and electorally via the 2012 elections. Why are they doing this? Because of the precedent they set last year. They held the budget hostage and forced a sequester that cut 10% of the budget. They figured it worked last year, why not do it again?

This reminds me of a similar tale of precedent that happened to me earlier in my career. In the facility I worked in, we had many secure rooms, one of which was reserved for whoever was in command. This office allowed the commander a secure office which they could conduct their job with all the secure resources they required. Now, these secure rooms require significant effort to not only become secure enough for the military, but remain secure on a daily basis. One year, someone in leadership thought it would be a good idea to let a high ranking visitor use this office since it wasn't currently occupied. One problem; the visitor did not have a clearance high enough for that office. When presented with the idea, I briefed leadership on all the reasons it was a bad idea, reinforcing the vast effort needed to un-secure the room, the round the clock security required to monitor the room, and the Herculean effort to re-secure the room following the visit. The visitor did not require a secure room (and for all we know, probably never asked for it) but instead of displacing someone from their un secure office for a week or two, leadership insisted we use the room as a glorified VIP office. 

I was promised it was just a "one time deal" and an alternate would be found in the future. Many of my own leadership supported that it was a bad idea. Needless to say, I "shut-up-and-colored" and worked my magic to prepare the office. Thanks to many (many) co-worker's efforts, we succeeded in providing the VIP room, and quickly restored it after they departed. Low and behold, another visitor came about a year later. Guess where they set up office? See, a precedent had been set. Leadership saw that it was possible to use the office and since they were so far removed from myself and the other workers, they didn't seemed concerned with the effort required. 

This is exactly why I refuse to allow my subordinates to do tasks that are outside of their realm of responsibility. Sure, it would be easy to do. I'd just be helping someone out. But when it needs to be done again, guess who gets called to do it? Even worse, it eventually becomes a new responsibility since we did such a darn good job the first time.

Bad precedent isn't just reserved for work, or the government. We set precedent in our lives, our relationships and families. When you let your children misbehave without consequence, a precedent has been set. When you let your significant other talk you into doing something that is their responsibility so they can go off and do something foolish, a precedent has been set. When you do those favors for a "friend" without getting anything in return, a precedent has been set. These precedents can then be used against you time and time again.

Should you never do any favors for anyone else again? Of course not. No need to be paranoid. Not everyone is out to screw you over (okay maybe just YOU, but don't tell anyone I told you). Just be aware of the precedent that is being set, and be cautious that it could go from a "one time deal" to a routine occurrence.