Unknown Unknowns and Public Affairs Education

Unknown Unknowns and Public Affairs Education Authors: David Schultz Source: Journal of Public Affairs Education , SUMMER 2016, Vol.. Editorial Perspectives Unknown Unknowns and Public

Unknown Unknowns and Public Affairs Education

Author(s): David Schultz

Source: Journal of Public Affairs Education , SUMMER 2016, Vol 22, No 3 (SUMMER 2016), pp 319-320

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44114738

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Journal of Public Affairs Education

Editorial Perspectives

Unknown Unknowns and Public Affairs Education

David Schultz Co-Editor

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

was mocked when he declared in 2002, about

possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,

that "there are known knowns; there are things

we know we know We also know there are

known unknowns But there are also unknown

unknowns - the ones we dont know we dont

know." Rumsfeld in fact spoke more truth than

he was given credit for His comments reflect the

real state of knowledge that most public

istrators have when they make decisions or act

His comments also capture the reality of most

public affairs education programs

Herbert Simon famously described the world of

bounded rationality that defines decision

ing Simon argued that many decision-making

models assume perfect knowledge In having to

make policy or other choices, models assume

perfect knowledge about all options, costs, and

benefits, suggesting that the future is infinitely

foreseeable and that there are no costs associated

with making decisions Yet Simon argued,

instead, that we operate and act with limited

knowledge about options and the future and

that there are costs associated with making

choices Ronald Coase also pointed to decision

costs, and Charles Lindblom argued that

cause even the goals of decisions are often

unclear, the reality of most decision making is a

form of muddling through

The point that Simon was making is that none

of us are omniscient when we act or make

isions We act with limited knowledge about

the present and future and often have to simply

make do with what we have This is what

Rumsfeld was referring to in 2002 Oftentimes

we decide without having all the information

we would like, recalibrating decisions or choices

as we go and as circumstances change and new data become available Thus the concept of bounded rationality This concept also applies

to public affairs education

As I noted in the last issue of JPAE> our articles

and symposia often reflect two staple themes

The first addresses accreditation standards of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and

Administration (NASPAA) and whether they are comprehensive or inclusive enough to represent all the skills or bodies of knowledge presumed

necessary for the public affairs practitioner The

second theme argues that public affairs tion underteaches or ignores a skill or body of knowledge that deserves more emphasis

This issue of JPAE addresses the role of

nology in traditional and online courses and how

it affects learning and instructor preparation The articles in the symposium, as introduced

by Jodi R Sandfort, are engaging and offer much

to learn from There is also much to learn from

the other articles in this issue Ralph Gigliotti examines how online graduate programs relate

to schools' seeking to impart or brand an tutional identity Erna Gelles confronts the

challenges of integrating nonprofit training

to Master of Public Administration programs And Christopher Rothermel s review of Man ageńal Dilemmas: The Political Hierarchy of Economy illuminates the books value in helping administrators understand the economic text of organizational decision making

But what Rumsfelds comments, as well as the concept of bounded rationality, imply is that public affairs education cannot teach all the

JPAE 22(3), 319-320 Journal of Public Affairs Education 3 1 9

D Schultz

skills and bodies of knowledge needed to be a

public administrator today, let alone in a decade

or two There are many different jobs and roles

in public administration and not everyone

needs to know absolutely everything There are

divisions of labor and fields of specialty that

determine what some people and not others

need to know or be responsible for

At the same time, the practice of public affairs

is also not static New problems arise People

change Problems disappear or emerge

nology evolves Thirty years ago, no one knew

of GIS, Twitter, or big data No one could offer

classes on these things because they did not exist

A decade ago, a simulation of implementing the

Affordable Care Act or Dodd-Frank was

conceivable because neither law existed And

before the 9/11 attacks, courses on homeland

security were inconceivable Yet even though

public administrators had not gone to school to

study such events or laws, they managed to

dle through, learn, make do, and make good

choices, even though they often faced unknown

unknowns How did they do that? Quite simply,

they had the skills to adapt and learn

Any curriculum that educates only for the

present is inherently out of date from the start

A discussion of public affairs education that

asks only what skills are now necessary to find a

job will always be deficient We cannot simply

offer everything and say that everything is

portant This denies the reality of specialization

and organizational division of labor One

not and should not be expected to know and

do everything Some are better at some skills,

such as budgeting, compared to others, and the

reality is that public affairs organizations hire

either specialists or consultants or simply talk

to others to fill in gaps in information

But it is also impossible to predict the future

None of us know what we will really need to know

in 20 years hence Those who are accomplished

in their fields, including those in public affairs,

draw on work experiences, colleagues, and their

own educational training to help them grow and

adapt to changing conditions The secret to a

successful career in public affairs is knowing how

to deal with the unknown unknowns

A good public affairs curriculum and set of standards should understand this What is most needed are programs that emphasize analytical thinking, judgment making, good oral and written communication skills, and the overall

ability to confront new situations by developing

adaptive strategies What have I just described? The classic liberal arts education

We should not overworry or fret that our

students do not know everything That s okay I

assume they will learn on the job and evolve with their organizations But we should be

training public affairs students how to work in

a world of bounded rationality, where

tioners have the requisite skills to act in a world

of frequent unknown unknowns

As always, I encourage you to contact me with suggestions for symposia, specific articles, or even suggestions about how we might do our job better as editors and about what you would

like to see in JPAE in the future

- ' David Schultz

CO-EDITOR

Journal of Public Affairs Education

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY

dschultz@hamline.edu

ABOUT THE CO-EDITOR

David Schultz is professor of political science at Hamline University and professor at the line and University of Minnesota Schools of Law He is a three-time Fulbright Scholar and the author of more than 30 books and 100+ articles on various aspects of American politics, election law, and the media and politics Schultz

is regularly interviewed and quoted on these subjects in the local, national, and international media, including the New York Times, Wall

Street Journal, Washington Post, Economist, and

National Public Radio His most recent book is

Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter

(Lexington Books, 2015)

320 Journal of Public Affairs Education