A lesson from public conveniences

Some years ago when I held a more junior management position I worked for a local authority who at that time needed to make savings from its annual expenditure. ( some things never change! ) This authority provided and serviced an amazingly high number of public conveniences and it was not difficult to persuade the elected members that they could make a saving by closing three of these. However, I spent the remainder of the year trying to reach agreement on which three from the multitude should be the ones to close. I learnt a valuable lesson from this. It is often easier to get agreement on the general principle than it it is to get agreement on the application of that principle. 

This experience has recently come back to mind. The government has committed to a smaller state and reduced public expenditure. Not just because financially the country needs to but because they believe this to be the right approach to government. My observation is that it is not uncommon for those who sign up to this policy and strategic direction as a general principle to be the first to object and stand against its application to any given set of circumstances. Local Authorities are often the ones who are the sharp end of applying this policy change. It appears to me that as they apply the general principle to the specific circumstances they often face opposition from the advocates of the policy. Still, there never was a rule that we have to behave logically and consistently.