When statistics change radically for better or for worse look for the last major alteration or broad general action just before it and it is usually the reason.
Example: Letter out statistic falls and falls. In investigating look for the last major change in that area and if possible cancel it and the statistic will then rise. Let us say that just at the top of the down drop, the 3rd week in November, the Dept of Registration was given new dictation equipment. Take it away and restore the old arrangement and routing pattern that was in use with it and sit back and see what happens. The statistic will probably recover.
Example: The Field Staff Member Commission statistic has been very low and suddenly leaps to affluence. You want to reinforce it so you study what happened just before it. As it takes a bit of time on a statistic that has longer comm lines, you look a bit earlier. You find the Dir Clearing began to send FSMs big info packets they could give people. So you okay lots of such info packets to be given out and the affluence of the statistic continues. And you write LRH what made it do that so a Pol Ltr can be written.
I learned this while researching the life force of plants. Everytime I saw a research bed of plants worsen, I queried what routine had been varied and found invariably some big change had been made that wasn't usual.
It is change that changes things for better or for worse. That's the simplicity of the natural law.
If you want to hold a constant condition, don't change anything.
If you are trying to improve something make changes cautiously and keep a record of what is changed (like all orders must be by SEC EDs). Then you watch statistics and if they decline you hastily wipe out the last change. And if they improve you reinforce the change that began it.
For instance we know the 7 Division System pattern works for the better it's gotten in in an org the more its graphs go up.
The Org Board of summer 1964 also works for a small org because it started their statistics up. But it was not good enough to maintain height of statistic when a certain size was reached. So we got the 7 Division pattern of 1965.
It is of course obvious that if Joe as Org Sec did okay and if replaced with Bill who is only 15 the Org Division will falter.
But frankly it is not just a personnel question by far.
Personnel equates against case gain more than personality. In December 1965 at Saint Hill, the gross divisional statistics very closely matched the case progress of the Secretaries of each division. You can almost assign a post by:
Those 3 factors take into no account personality or aptitude much contrary to all the tests the 19th Century psychologist or 18th Century phrenologist would have made and used.
So while personnel changes are always a possible reason for radical shifts in statistics, they are by no means the major ones.
Shifts of comm lines, functions, policies, equipment, duties, locations are quite often far more responsible for graph shifts.
Personnel comes into it this way: When you make a bad rearrangement and you have an incompetent personnel also you have disaster!
If you make a bad rearrangement and the personnel are good the statistic drop may be only a small one as they cope. So even small drops should be investigated, particularly around good personnel.
The morals are these: If you have a disaster (big Danger Condition) find the big change which preceded it or the missed order and get that fixed and also shift personnel.
If you see a person who has a good record coping like mad, inspect the area of that post to find what needs fixing up, what changes were made that overpressured that post and get it right.
During expansion, one has areas where statistics become level.
Here statistics pause because lines jam. People get overworked and confused.
The traffic is just too heavy.
And where do you really repair in such a case? More clerks? No! Always look to the lines of the highest post in the overloaded area and get them eased.
In expansion the person who never notices is the man in charge. And his lines are the most crippling to the org if jammed.
Example: Org Sec and Org Division stacked up and coping frantically. Org Exec Sec wonders what to do. Their statistics are paused (in a level line). They are overworked. Hire more clerks? No. Sort out the Org Sec and be sure more help is furnished on that post. Then the Org Sec (with a personal Secretary to sort her mail, etc.) looks up and starts sorting out the Division.
The old trick I used to use was to tell an overworked director "Draw me up a list of all the hats you are wearing". And he or she would finally bring one in, round-eyed. "35 hats!" I recall one saying.
I would take the one nearest the director in duties and fill it with a staff member and the department would ease off.
Somebody like the Div 7 Sec or the LRH Communicator can do this to Exec Secs. If they are slaving, make them put on somebody to unjam their lines. They'll straighten the rest out.
So a paused statistic comes from the jammed lines of the topmost executives and is best remedied by easing them.
An org today is not run on personalities. It's run on statistics. All orders are based on statistics. The old personality system used by the business world and military is as yesterday as the rack and almost as cruel. Go modern. Use statistics only.