TSA vs el modelo israelí

Comentario interesante en Instapundit, relacionado con el desastre de la TSA y la aplicabilidad del modelo israelí (vas del estacionamiento del aeropuerto a tu gate en 30 minutos). Israel lo puede hacer porque es un país chico con pocos aeropuertos (dificil de replicar en USA con tantos aeropuertos y varios ordenes de magnitud más de tráfico). Además, en Israel no tienen problema en hacer profiling y análisis de comportamiento en el aeropuerto, cosa que es muy políticamente incorrecta en EEUU.

[...] Anyone that studies organizations or has spent time in corporate or large-government environments, understands why the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security were bad ideas. The expressed goal was to integrate all of the diverse elements associated with public security into one entity and make them work seamlessly. The only way to do this, however, is through fairly rigid bureaucratic rules and strict policy guidelines. How would you control the behavior of screeners in diverse places such as Minot and NYC? You do it through strict policy and procedures. You simply cannot permit discretion on the part of individuals as this would jeopardize organizational control of these people. This is why TSA seems mindless… the thinking is being done elsewhere, at the time the procedure is written. This is also why large-scale technical solutions like backscatter machines are favored. These are the only ones compatible with the organizational structures of TSA.


I would think that even within the leadership of TSA you would get an admission that an Israeli-style security scheme is far more effective. The problem is scalability – and the bureaucratic nature of large organizations. The Israeli model requires allowing discretion on the part of the screener, which would require hiring employees capable of thoughtfully exercising it (better hiring, training, pay, etc.) and far fewer rigid policies and procedures. One more note. The trend in organizations for several years now is toward decentralizing, flexibility, and mass customization (the achieving of large scale efficiencies on an almost individual level). This is why I favor going back to doing security locally. Think local Fire Marshall vs the OSHA inspector. Who is really getting the job done?