Charles R. “Charlie” Morris

Charlie was so special.  He was so special to me.

When I think about mentors in my life, Charlie is at the top of my list.

There are so many stories that I could recount about Charlie, but the one that I want to share is very short but very powerful, as we come up on the second anniversary of his passing.

It took place in Olympia Washington in 1975, almost 50 years ago.  Charlie was the Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).  DSHS, at the time, was the largest state agency with more than 10,000 employees and responsibility for public health, Medicaid, adult and juvenile corrections, aging, alcoholism, drug abuse, welfare, vocational rehabilitation, mental health, developmental disabilities, social services, foster care, nursing homes, congregate care facilities, to name a few.

Charlie was appointed to the position by the three term Governor Dan Evans and served for almost 4 years.  As CEO he faced tremendous challenges on almost a daily basis.  Inevitably some issue would be on the front page of the Seattle newspapers almost every day.  Examples of typical stories include — someone escapes from the sexual offender unit at Western State Hospital, welfare rolls are increasing dramatically, prison inmates at Walla Walla are staging a hunger strike, state mental hospitals are closing with nowhere for the patients to go.  You get the idea.

I had the privilege of serving initially as Charlie’s Director of his Office of Management and Budget, and later as his Director of Community Services with responsibility for most everything except adult corrections and public health.  I was totally committed to serving Charlie and carrying out the numerous goals of the agency.   And I was not alone.  There was a tremendous sense of responsibility that most of the staff of the agency carried with them.  That, coupled with their commitment to serving the public and their leader, Charlie Morris, made it a great place to work.

Having said that, I and many others were working hard, really hard.  Long days and many nights.

With this as background, one day around 10am in the morning I was walking by Charlie’s office at the DSHS headquarters building in Olympia and the door was open.  I looked in.  What I saw shocked me.

There was Charlie, sitting at his desk – a desk without a single piece of paper on it.  Not one thing on the top of his large desk.

But Charlie was not just sitting at his desk, he was leaning back in his office chair that rocked back a little bit, and he had his feet up on his desk!  Yes, he had his feet up on his desk.

On top of that, Charlie was reading the newspaper.

Let me review what I saw from the hall.   The head of the state’s largest agency with all kinds of responsibilities sitting in his office, leaning back in his chair, with his feet up on the desk, a desk that is totally empty of any papers or files, and he is reading the newspaper.

Holy cow!  I can’t believe what I am seeing.  I look both ways down the halls to make sure that no one else is walking by Charlie’s office.  I don’t want anyone else to see what I have just seen.  No siree.

I immediately turn into his office and close the door.  I really shut the door.

I say to Charlie, “what in hell are you doing?”  I add, “what are you doing sitting here with your feet up on the desk reading the newspaper when we have thousands of employees who are busting their butts for you every minute of every day!”

Charlie says “Neil, take a seat.  Let me tell you something.”  I take a seat.  He looks at me and says with a totally straight face, “Neil, I am paid to think.  I am thinking.”

And he was not kidding, not joking.  No sir.

So short, so direct and yet so powerful.  I have never forgotten this.  It made a lasting impression on me.

How many of us work hard, but how many of us take the time to “think.”

Footnote:  Charlie was probably the most brilliant person I have ever worked with.  His ability to read was amazing, devouring books with lightening speed.  When he did not know enough about a topic to satisfy himself, he would set out to become the world’s expert, and write a book about it.  Charlie authored 15 books on an unbelievably wide variety of topics.

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