Volume 71 Article 2

1-1-1984

Toughness of Spirit and the Pursuit of ExcellenceGeorge W. ThomsonIowa State University

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Recommended CitationThomson, George W. (1984) "Toughness of Spirit and the Pursuit of Excellence," Ames Forester: Vol. 71 , Article 2.Available at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/amesforester/vol71/iss1/2

TongfrJteSS qf Spirit C[nd thepursuit qfEacflrfu

by George W. Thomsoncha'lrman, Department Of Forestry

fit stands to reason that any80-year-old organization Will havehad its ups and downs. However,this department's students, facultyand alumni can profitably lookback on those years since 1904,when Iowa State Forestry began,with the sure conviction that excel-lence has been pursued here bymany means.

A particularly revealing time tOobserve was that of fifty years agowhen times were hard and the en-vironment was in bad shape be-cause of exploitive use and lack ofconcern. But this was the time,too, when we were perched onthe brink of one of the great con-servation movements of our his-tory - the Emergency Conserva-lion Work (ECW) program that ledto` the famed ccc that set somany foresters on the road to sue-cessful careers.

G. B. MacDonald was StateForester for Iowa then as well aSDepartment Head for Forestry andnewly appointed Director of theECW. Each of these positions wasimmensely demanding and I, asone of his successors, marvel atthe energetic excellence of thispioneering forester. ln the 1934AMES FORESTEF] ProfessorMacDonald wrote, "I should like tOtake this opportunity to pass out aword of encouragement to theAmes foresters, especially thoseengaged in the Emergency Con-servation program, and to com-mend them on their participationin a movement which may haveresults in the future far beyondwhat we can now see." The cor-

AMES FOF}ESTEF}

rectness of Prof. Mac's encourag-ing and optimistic prediction cannow be seen in the recreationalroads, shelters and lakes built; theeroding hillsides healed; thestreams improved and the forestsplanted; the tree diseases con-trolled, and forest fires fought.

Much has been written Of theimpact of the various conservationprograms that sprang from thatnational emphasis on conservationstimulated by an astute Presidentand hundreds of forestry profes-sionals. But the success storiesthat are of most interest to thoseof us directly involved in forestryin 1984 are those about thepeople whose careers began inthe depressing times of the thirtiesbut culminated in success duringthe ensuing fifty years. For exam-plc, the article in this presentAMES FOF}ESTER by the re-nowned Dr. William Duerr is sig-nificant because he is the sameBill Duerr who was the Studenteditor of the 1934 AMES FOF]ES-TEFt. Another example lies in theinteresting story in this issueabout the cutting of the 1983 Na-tional Christmas Tree as told byLarry Gibson of the Class of 1933.He writes that he played Croquetbeside that tree where it wasnewly planted at the CCC campnear Fifield, Wisconsin when hewas a newly graduated "AmesForester" and Stationed there.Fifty years later he helped Sawdown that tree and prepare it forits trip to the White House

grounds in celebration of theGolden Anniversary of the Civilian

Conservation Corps. These arebut two of the many illustrations ofthe obvious fact that there is lifeand a successful career even afterthe beginn'lngs look bad.

lt would appear that the mostappropriate confirmation of excel-lence of a university is found inthe people who have graduatedfrom it. Their contributions to soci-edy as well as to the professionand practice of forestry, then, aremore worthy measures of excel-lence than are buildings, budgetand baly-hoo - although it mustsurely be recognized that each ofthose play a part in the admitting,guiding and graduating of ulti-mately successful people.

"For excellence, it seems tO

me," said President Parks in hisinaugural address in 1965, "is aprocess of becoming, rather thana state of being....it is in thesfr,'v,'r,g for excellence that an in-stitution develops that spirit andtone, that lively community oflearning, that creative environmentfor scholarship which makes forexcellence."

Common talk among foresters,whether they be industry or gov-ernment employed, woodlands ormanufacturing oriented, teacher orstudent, neophyte or old-timer, isthat present conditions are hard,the future is uncertain and thepublic image of forestry is dis-torted. When pessimism is the do-minant theme of a profession badtimes are made to seem worse.Students see little reason for dili-gence if effort is not to be re-warded; curriculum planners find

5

themselves ill at ease in proposingtruly demanding courses; les-sened expectations lead to declin-ing enrollments and several pillarsof excellence weaken - the num-bers of superior students declinejn both real and relative terms,stimulation of faculty members jsreduced and, in turn, the excite-ment of the class room fades. Fi-nally the retrogression continuesas fewer students are attractedand the essential flow of financialSupport and the esteem of popu-larity wane.

The foregoing scenario cow/c/be played out right now for all theelements of pending tragedy areat hand. If one were to believewith each new depression thatsuch travail had never been im-posed before it might be temptingto repeat the childhood lament:

Oh, I wish I were dead now.l'll take to my bed now.l'll cover my head now.And have a good cry.

But the most casual of historicobservation shows us that wehave always had bad times rollingthrough like storm fronts in March.Thomas Paine warned of being a"summer soldier and a sunshine

patriot." Dickens immortalized thestage-setting paragraph that be-gins, "lt was the best of times, itwas the worst of times... it wasthe spring of hope, it was thewinter of despair, we had every-thing before us, we had nothingbefore us..." President Parksspoke to the lSU faculty in 1969of "...an age of crumbling illu-sions. Old images are having togive way to new realities. Tradi-tional beliefs are being shattered,or are being forced to face newtests, new challenges."

If history, both ancient and re-cent, is to tell us anything then itmust surely be that we are de-stined to be seasoned and hard-ened by adversity. Therefore, ifthat be so and difficulty is thenorm then that difficulty is really ofno more significance than uphill isto the bicyclist. lt]s there, eitherboring or demanding, but there,

6

and is the obvious opposite sideof the more pleasant condition ofcoasting downhill.

As the Depression of the thirtiesled to the CCC's and a wide-spread conservation movement forforesters, and as world War llprovided the GI Bill for thousandsof service men and women andoffered an entr6 into forestry, somay We yet look for Signs Of goodthings to come from this past de-cade of declining fortunes in pro-fessional forestry. while perish-ingly Pollyannish to expect goodto come from every ill there maywell be signs of new realities thatcan raise our profession to newheights.

Let us consider a few of ourleast favorite things. Summe, em-DlOyment through VOIunteerism.While I believe firmly in charitableactivity and going out of one's wayto learn, even if not paid, I mustadmit to a reluctance to havingyoung foresters sold short andforced into working for nothing,However, the bright side js thatthe government agencies who aresoliciting volunteer labor admit tosome embarrassment about this,and a strong tendency appears toexist to give really good guidanceand experience to the volunteerwith the extra incentive of offering

paid work to those who have firstvolunteered. Summer volunteersSeem tO be coming back tO Cam-pus with less money than theirpaid counterparts but with highenthusiasm for the experiencesgained.

Restricted employment afterg,adt,af,'on. Nothing galls theeducator and the newly-graduatedSO much aS finding that profes-sional education is difficult to mar-ket. Yet there is proven biologicadvantage in survival of the fittest.Agencies and industrial organiza-tions have become tougher butmore efficient and are similar tostudents who, facing graduation,have made decisions to furthertheir education and prepare for aworld that demands, but also rec-ognizes, talent. Having lived

through some very plush timesand watched poor quality poepledo as well as high quality peoplebecause there were apparently nolimits to employment and reward,I have witnessed considerable dis-satisfaction by the talented whofound that, just as bad moneydrives out good, so do soft timesallow the weak to prevail. AStronger Profession made uP Ofthe best people may result fromPresent travail.

F]estricted support for educa-I,'or,. The structure that has pro-vided for excellence in teaching,extension and research in the pastSeems tO be Crumbling With SOCi-ety seemingly unwilling or unableto pay the bills. ln the communityof students and faculty that makesup the university this seems acruel burden. None-the-less, stric-lures prompt us to reevaluatewhat is important and consideranew the charge, beloved ofeconomists, to properly allocateSCarCe reSOuroes. Forestryschools now have banded to-gether to reduce duplication of reIsearch effort and to identify areaswhere new work needs to bedone. While it is not to be ex-pected that one state universitywould send its students to anotherstate's school there is beginningto be a tendency to share suchitems as summer camps, special-ized equipment for teaching andresearch and to support oneanother in numerous ways. Bit bybit our profession is getting leanerand the professionals are gettingstronger.

Society's dim view of the con-servation professional. ln a land ofabundance there is little prestigein knowing how to make the infi-nitely available go a little further.But in lands where the reservoir ofwood can be seen to be nearlyempty and where the ammenitiesof recreation and esthetics andthe necessities of clean air andwater are at risk the resourcemanager takes on new prestige.When that time comes to America,

continued on page ll

The 1984

organization.The Forest Service may not

have all of the answers as to howto become an "Excellent" organi-zation as described by Peters andwaterman. However, the top man-agement of the Forest Servicerecognizes the need to communi-Gate a clear vision of excellence tOall Forest Service managers. Amajor challenge to the organiza-lion will be its ability to create aclimate in which the seeds of ex-cellence can grow to maturity. lfone message clearly resonatesfrom recent literature it is that weAmericans have done Well on in-stilling the harder managementvalues of planning, control, andquantitative decision making in ourmanagers, but have not alwaysbeen able to merge these with thesofter values of employee motiva-lion, work spirit, organizational de-velopment, and human potential.When Forest Service managerscan successfully bring all thesecomponents into concert, they willhave succeeded in reaching theirgoal of true excellence.

Computers . . . cot,'t. fom pg. 18

help solve a myriad of complexforestry problems. These modernelectronic wizards allow us to"see" the forest as never seen be-

fore. They allow us to extend thefrontier of knowledge in remotesensing, inventory analysis, man-agement/planning optimization,and growth and yield modelling ofvirgin or established forests. Theabilities of massive data storage,retrieval, and analysis by com-puters helps foresters to bettermanage the tens of millions offorested acres around the World.We, as foresters, are stewards Ofvaluable natural resources- land,

Tongfrness . . . cot,Jt. i-om pg. 6

foresters will be glad that they didnot compromise themselves bymerely hoping for better times buttook pride in their own pursuit ofexcellence.

AMES FOF3ESTEF}

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Deal, Terrence E., and Allan A.Kennedy. Corporate CulturesThe Rites and Rituals of Col-porate Life. F]eading, Mas-sachusetts: Addison-Wesleypublishing Company,1982.

Gold, Kenneth A. "Managing forsuccess: A Comparison of theprivate and public Sectors."public Administration ReIview, November/December1982l pp. 568-574.

Naisbitt, John. Megatrends TenNew Directions Transformingour Lives. New York: WarnerBooksl 1982.

peters, Thomas J., and F]obert H.waterman, Jr. ln Search ofExcellence Lessons fromAmerica's Best-Run Com-panies. New York: Harper &Row, Publishers,1982.

Thompson, John. "ln Search ofExcellence: A Conversationwith Tom Peters." Training aDevelopment Journal, August1983, pp.16-22

soil, water, wildlife, and forests. Assuch, we need all the tools mod-ern science can provide to help usbecome effective, knowledgeable,and creative foresters. One adver-tisement by a large industrial firmsays "the future is now," andanother says "we can't waitl."Another saying, one from forestry,is ''We don't plant trees for thisgeneration--- we plant them forthe future generations." All ofthese sayings are truel. We needto make the best decisions todayfor the benefit of the future gener-ations. We need the ability to seethe future, as clearly as possible,

Nowhere can I find a better norolder statement about the pursuitof excellence in the face of adver-sity than this one written around700 BC by Hesoid. "Badness youcan get easily, in quantity; theroad is smooth, and it lies close

Bruce A. Courtright isChief of Management Improve-ment for the u.S. Forest Ser-vice in washington, D.C. He isresponsible for increased effi-ciency and effectiveness ofboth managerial development,and management systems with-in the Forest Service. He is in-volved presently in major effortsto increase unit cost effective-ness and development of a via-ble network of Forest Serviceconsultants who can supportline management in improvingtheir productivity through thelatest managerial techniques. I

to aid in these complex decisionsconcerning forests and all naturalresources. The modern computeris our eye to the future and ourlink with knowledge from the past.Just remember thought. the com-puter may act as our eye, but notour brain. We are the decision-makers, not the computer.

I I I I I IThe authors are, respectively,

Assistant Professor of ForestryEconomics, Assistant Professor ofForest Biometry, and AssociateProfessor of Forest Biometry atIowa State University.

by. But in front of excellence theimmortal gods have put sweat,and long and steep is the way toit; and rough at first. But when youcome to the top, then it is easy,even though it is hard." I

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