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SALLY'S

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DESIGN

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Responsibility

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30

March 6 • 2014

esponsibility. It's a
funny thing, respon-
sibility. You're not
always sure when you have it,
you can't always measure it,
and you're almost never sure
when it's completely fulfilled.
From space shuttle disasters to
failed governments, from corpo-
rate meltdowns to community
agency troubles, one thing is
for certain about responsibil-
ity. From 0-rings to oh no's, the
one common word in the rear
view mirror of all such matters
regarding responsibility can be
plainly seen: SHARED.
As we face another
crisis in our own
community, this time
involving our beloved
Jewish Community
Center, the same
questions asked about
all the previous mat-
ters of this type are
being asked again
regarding responsibil-
ity. Who had it? Who
should have seen it
coming? Who should have done
something sooner? Who is to
blame?
The answer: Too many people
to count, and most importantly,
not any single person.
Lay and professional lead-
ership have stepped up and
leaned in over the past 20
years to try to create a sustain-
able operation and business
model for the complicated busi-
ness that is our JCC. The plain
and simple fact is, we are still
working on it.
What we need now is hon-
est and open communication,
critical and crisp decision mak-
ing, and a sense of empathy.
The problem we now face at
the JCC is the cumulative and
compounded impact of years of
legacy issues and the perpetual
struggle of mission vs. margin.
We now have an opportunity to
resolve this struggle in favor of
our community.
However, beyond settling the
debts and creating yet another
plan, we need to adopt two
essential pillars to guide this
moment:
First, we need to dig deep and
grab the learning. Let's under-
stand the true anatomy of this

"[The ICC] crisis
was not born
yesterday, and it
has many parents."

crisis and invest in a fresh look
at how management and gover-
nance, and how Federation and
its agencies work together.
As a community, we have
evolved over the past 100-plus
years a pretty enviable model
that most times gets
us to the right answer.
However, like most
systems, our system
of management and
governance can some-
times go stale; and
until we can be truly
introspective about
what works and what
is broken, we risk
other failures.
Secondly, while
we are paying the
bills, setting the JCC on a new
course and working not to leave
the learning behind, we need to
be respectful. The lay and pro-
fessional leaders of the Jewish
Federation, the United Jewish
Foundation and our agencies
do what they do because they
are passionate about our cause.
Their commitment is boundless
and deeply rooted.
Sometimes when we are deal-
ing with "bet the house" issues,
the search for solving the
responsibility equation causes
us to want to point fingers or
make assumptions without all
the facts. Let's not make this
personal and chase ghosts that
are not there.
The reported financial man-
agement issues at the JCC are
not the root cause of what will
now be required to resolve the
open issues. This crisis was not
born yesterday, and it has many
parents. So let's stay on the high
ground that is the Detroit Jewish
community and channel our
energy to resolving, learning and
looking to a brighter future.

Mark Davidoff is the managing partner

of the Michigan practice of Deloitte

LLP and a past president of the JCC.