We recently interviewed a man for a role at the Mackinac Center. He asked a question that no job candidate has ever asked me.
“How does your team respond to setbacks and failure?”
The question spoke volumes. Everyone is on their best behavior in a job interview; the candidates talk about their best qualities, and the employer talks about why people should work there. This man’s question revealed a pragmatic outlook: If setbacks and disappointment are part of this work, and of course they are, does this organization have resilience and determination?
We talked about several setbacks. During the 2023-24 legislative session, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature dismantled many reforms the Mackinac Center and its allies had championed. The state repealed right-to-work, watered down historic pension reform, abandoned education accountability measures, and stopped the momentum of a school choice measure.
Around the same time, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of several taxpayers to uphold a cut to the personal income tax.
The Legislature had recently cut the income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%, saving taxpayers $700 million. Attorney General Dana Nessel released an opinion that the rate cut would expire after only one year. We sued, but the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review the case.
Those are failures to secure or maintain a victory. Another kind of failure is programmatic — a project fails to take off or retain its usefulness. For many years we ran a high school debate workshop, training students on the principles of economics and sound policy. We trained nearly 11,000 students over 30 years, but demand for the program had slowed by the time we ended it in 2018. It’s hard to sunset programs you’re proud of.
The Mackinac Center has encountered another sort of major setback: three colleagues have been laid to rest while working at the Center. Joe Overton, Bruce Beerbower and Amy Green — all taken far too soon, far too early.
So back to our interviewee’s question: “How do you respond to setbacks and failures?”
We can take the long view on our policy recommendations; we aren’t limited by term limits or political cycles. And optimism is of critical importance. We learn from our setbacks.
There are many ways to change public policy. Pass a bill in the Legislature. Litigate a constitutional precedent in the courts. Persuade a majority of people to embrace an idea. Enact a ballot measure to amend the state constitution. Work at the municipal level or with state agencies or through administrative rules. At the Mackinac Center, we seek to pivot, moving to another pathway when the one we are on is closed off.
Finally, we remember the charge Winston Churchill gave at Harrow School in 1941: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never. In nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
