President emphasizes creative pragmatism in government administration
President Lee Myung-bak visited the buildings of presidential secretaries this morning. The President’s tour, beginning with Yeomin Building No.1, lasted for an hour from 11:30 to 12:30. After the tour, the President had lunch with the secretaries and administrators at the cafeteria in the basement of Yeomin Building No.2. The President returned to the main Cheong Wa Dae building on foot at 12:45 after lunch.
Noting the improved atmosphere in the office of the secretaries after the partitions were removed, President Lee expressed considerable satisfaction by saying, “It will be helpful in boosting communications and efficiency. Isn’t it good for work as well?”
In connection with this, the President added a couple of requests. First, he said, “There are still too many walls to be torn down.” Pointing to walls and doors standing between the front entrance and the hallway of the building, he said, “Would it be possible to use the space more efficiently if the unnecessary walls and partitions were removed?” For example, the central hallway in Yeomin Building No.1 is too spacious. What the President meant was that they were an inefficient use of space.
Second, an opaque glass wall was installed on a trial basis in the office of the secretaries for general affairs. Pointing to the glass wall, the President instructed the secretaries, “You need to replace it with clear glass so that people can see better.” He added, “We should discover any hidden space, even 2cm.” For example, there were some partitions standing right next to walls. “There wouldn’t be any inconvenience caused by the absence of those partitions. Without them, the space will be used more effectively. My instructions to secure all possible space don’t seem to have been translated into proper action.”
The President made an impromptu suggestion that energy leakage should be blocked. On his visit to an office of a Cheong Wa Dae senior secretary, the President asked, “Isn’t it unnecessary to turn on the lights when the window gets so much sun? We can also turn off the lights when we go out for lunch to save as much energy as possible.”
The President added that places where many citizens visit such as the offices of the secretaries related to economic affairs and the hallways of the center for civil petitions should be as spacious as possible. The President took a look around inside one building and said, “It would be ideal to create a lounge for the staff. For instance, there currently is space on the roof of Yeomin Building No. 2. It would be great to create a rest area there where the staff could sit together and enjoy the beautiful scenery and breeze over a cup of tea.”
As his remarks today demonstrated, the creative pragmatism of the Lee Myung-bak Administration is about paying meticulous attention to details and working creatively. The President’s message was that it is necessary to watch, analyze and study things from multifaceted and comprehensive perspectives rather than fixating on a single aspect.
In the morning briefing, I relayed to you what the President said in today’s Senior Secretaries meeting and the Cabinet meeting prior to that. The message was basically the same. That is that the Government should do away with bureaucratic, hackneyed policies that only follow past conventions and customs. We need to come up with more creative, concrete and detailed measures. Short-term treatment of symptoms will not help. We need to take multifaceted, comprehensive measures that even take account of opportunity costs. Next, the President warned that Cabinet members and Senior Secretaries should not fall into the trap of self-reasoning by working only among themselves. It is important for them to listen to outside experts and civic organizations and utilize them fully.
Some say that workers under the new Administration are urged to “use their heads” or that an “early bird fatigue syndrome is already evident.” I have to accept the argument as the President has often said to “use your head” indeed. In saying that, however, he obviously meant to use your heads wisely while working hard, rather than only working hard to the point of physical exhaustion. He was saying that government workers should work creatively without sticking to rigid formalities and perfunctory manners. He also stressed the need to prepare action plans that can actually be implemented on the scene of activities instead of just engaging in abstract, empty discussions in the office.
웹사이트: http://www.president.go.kr
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2008년 8월 6일 17:22
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2008년 7월 9일 16:12