Dev-t (developed or wrong traffic) destroys any real production in an org while making the org seem frantically busy.

The downfall of HCO was THE FAILURE TO POLICE DEV-T.

The CAUSE of DEV-T is UNHATTEDNESS.

People who do not know what they are supposed to do or produce take on traffic that does not belong to them, originate traffic they have no business with and send it to wrong terminals who don’t handle.

Not knowing their hats or posts, they refer things they should handle to others who don’t handle them either. The org loads up with not-dones and half-dones and backlogs.

People who should refer what they know don’t originate at all and sit on hot emergencies and leave them unhandled. And if they do send them on, not knowing the org board, they send them to the wrong terminals. And if they send it to the right terminal, it goes in a way it can’t be handled for lack of comm expertise.

This goes for any type of particle — despatches, letters, bodies, money, customers, materials, supplies, any particle.

Problems are brought to seniors instead of Completed Staff Work (requiring a recommendation).

DEV-T means an UNHATTED, UNTRAINED, OFF-POLICY STAFF.

It means loads of overwork and little production or income.

AND DEV-T AND UNHATTEDNESS MEAN THAT THE PERSON AT THE TOP OF A DEPARTMENT, DIVISION OR THE ORG HAS TO SINGLE-HAND.

It isn’t an org, it’s a mob.

Unhatted staff “go criminal,” so Ethics will be very heavy.

A first action for an executive or any terminal is to demand CORRECT COMM.

In its basic elements this means

1. The staff member originates things that apply or are the business of HIS OWN POST. (On-origin.)

2. The origin is sent to the right terminal that handles that. (On-line.)

3. If a post is supposed to originate, it does so. (Communicates.)

4. If a problem is encountered, it is forwarded ONLY with a full recommendation for handling. (Completed Staff Work or CSW.)

5. One does NOT accept a comm that is not the post business of the originator. (Enforces on-origin.)

6. One does NOT accept a comm that does not belong to him. (Enforces on-line.)

7. One insists that a post should originate, or do the duties, or furnish the product or service of that post. (Enforces correct action.)

8. One never accepts a problem unless it has with it a sound recommendation by the originator accompanying it. (Enforced CSW.)

9. One demands specific names and instances, not generalities. (Nonsuppressive comm.)

10. One demands full particulars, not half-reports or vague generalities. (Nonsuppressive comm.)

11. One demands Comm be in proper form. (Correct despatch or completed.)

12. One has a place to receive the Comm. (In-basket or place in org.)

13. One has to have a place to put the comm for delivery. (Out-basket or comm center.)

14. One has to have standard lines and routes for particles to follow. (Comm system or lines.)

15. One demands use of the system — 1 warning, 1 admin cramming, 1 retread as an expeditor or in Estates to redo basics — for frequent offenders.

16. One demands HATTEDNESS and people performing the duties of their posts!

17. One demands an up-to-date Org Board and Staff drilled on it.

18. One NEVER STALEDATES. He handles when he is expected to.

19. One does NOT go soft in the head or get reasonable or find exceptions. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR CORRECT COMM AND CORRECT LINES.

An org that has no Comm discipline is a madhouse. It will be expensive. It will produce very little. It will try to deliver overt products.

And it will drive its execs up the chimney.

The immediate result will be a conclusion on the part of the execs, “These blankety-blank-blanks are doing us in!” “The place is full of suppressive people.” “These guys are no-good bums!” And, “Start shooting.”

Heavy ethics and offloads occur. These are almost always the result of a whole org gone around the bend from Dev-T.

Accidents happen. People get ill.

And the place falls apart.

The only known cure is TRAINING and HATTING.

For years we underestimated the number of persons needed to train and hat a staff. The whole civilization has troubles because it hasn’t even known about hatting, much less that it took someone to do it.

Any failure of HCO was caused by its drowning in Dev-T, even at last generating it because it never had enough people devoted to training and hatting, getting in org lines and comm lines.

HCO can do its job relieved of the whole burden of hatting.

The Solution is THE ESTABLISHMENT OFFICER.

This person operates in a division, not under its secretary but under a senior Establishment Officer.

He performs the duties of the departments of HCO for that division.

In a small org it requires a trained Establishment Officer for Divisions 7, 1 and 2 and another for Divisions 3, 4, 5 and 6.

In a larger org there is one in charge of all Establishment Officers and an Establishment Officer in each division.

As the org grows, the larger divisions get assistant Establishment Officers to the divisional one.

They do not establish and run away. They establish and maintain the division staff, personnel hats, posts, lines, materiel and supplies.

Their first job is to get staff working at their posts producing something and their next task is TO DRIVE DEV-T OUT OF EXISTENCE IN THAT ORG.

The booms and depressions of orgs, their successes and fall-aparts are signaled by

The underlying cause is unhattedness.

So we are dealing in Dev-T with a symptom. Like any disease, it soon catches up with the body of the org and its health.

Dev-t is an expression of untrained, unhatted staff. It shows they do not do the functions of their posts regardless of how busy or exhausted they are.

And most important for an executive to know: There is seldom any malice in it. It is just confusion. Even new people or new execs coming in to such an area all full of enthusiasm and bushy-tailed will cave in from the fantastic do-less motions of such an org.

Morale will be bad because PRODUCTION IS THE BASIS OF MORALE and who can produce in the midst of all that noise????

The place will go into apathy and tiredness as one is hit all day with OFF-LINE, OFF-ORIGIN COMM.

The executive’s solution is to HAT, HAT, HAT; and get help hatting, hatting, hatting; get the org board up and DRILL, DRILL, DRILLED. Demand, demand, demand the products of the post the person holds and only those products. And police his lines and get the dev-t in his own area handled, handled, handled; and never, never, never pull dev-t blunders himself; and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS DO AND INSIST UPON CORRECT COMM.

The solution is do what you can and all you can to hat and reduce dev-t and scream for an Establishment Officer to save the org.

CORRECT COMM IS THE SYMPTOM OF A HEALTHY, PRODUCING ORG AND A VALUABLE EXECUTIVE AND STAFF MEMBER.

[See also HCO PL 9 May 1974. Prod-Org, Esto and Older Systems Reconciled, on page 446. which modifies the above Policy Letter.]