My wife worked in DOE and grew frustrated with the same challenge of mediocrity in bureaucracy. There is no incentive to exceptionalism. It is also nearly impossible to get fired because they are so desperate for talent. As a result, the stakes of important decisions for the country are very low for individuals, where politics and personalities tend to dominate. I think of the problem as the decision makers being insulated from the consequences of their decisions except for how it plays politically. This insulation breaks any kind of feedback mechanism that would correct the organization or behavior. (There is an interesting parallel to how American voters treat foreign policy here too.) There are many civil servants that do a good job anyway because the mission is important to them, but it limits the organization's strategic impact.
It's an interesting claim that the biggest problem is "mediocrity in bureaucracy".
My experience is all based on the private sector. But I have seen some bureaucracies that function very well. To me it seems nearly impossible to maintain excellence in a culture where firing people for poor performance is very rare. It might not seem like it would make a huge difference to fire 5-10% of your lowest performing staff every year, but it builds up over time. It's a lot easier to set high standards for your team as a manager when you aren't held back by your lowest performers.
After a decade a piece in the Australian and US DOD, walking the fields between intel, plans and ops, I have become obsessed with bureaucracy's barriers to innovation and how they are overcome.
"Innovation is the fault line between control and creativity. In any bureaucratic system, the preponderance of effort, ideas and resources are applied to control. Bureaucracy seeks standardization through rule setting. Innovation seeks the best solution regardless of constraints. Balancing this tension - keeping the world’s largest bureaucracy rolling along and doing things completely differently is next to impossible. This challenge is multiplied when considering the military is deeply embedded in a political-industrial complex that has ridged ends-ways-means, laws, regulations, rules, and norms." (Source https://milab.substack.com/p/overview-all-in-one)
Laura Thomas' insights above, are at the heart of the intersection between practical experience and intelligent, creative, and insightful perception of a system (a country or a bureaucracy). Her thoughtcraft as a C/O, dedicated to sense making for the purposes of advancing an important interest, shine here.
The interviewer should also be congratulated for following the right themes and drawing them out.
I remember a naval aviator forced into a PRT to make up numbers, wondering why the Afghans would remove brand new toilets in the brand new school house his team had built for the village. Only later did he realize the school represented a threat (to traditional culture) and the toilet was offensive. Multiple this by 1000s. Well meaning but culturally inept and resulting in counter productive outcomes. The book "The Ugly American" come to life. There is a reason JFK gave it to every senator. Shame they didn't read it or comprehend it if they did.
The king hit of this interview was this gem:
"Yeah, in the US, we have this legacy and culture of thinking we're incredibly rational people. We're incredibly well educated in terms of lots of college degrees and equate that with being smart. We think reason rules, that people always choose what’s in their best interest, and forget the role of emotion, and basic human nature. We have a sense that's very palpable in the U.S. and West – and we can debate where it comes from – I think there's a lot of religious sort of undertones to it – but it is a very real sense of the value of human rights, the value of democratic principles. You're stepping into a world where that has not been the history of that country and people, it's a completely different trajectory. We often see the world as we want it to be, not as it really is"
My wife worked in DOE and grew frustrated with the same challenge of mediocrity in bureaucracy. There is no incentive to exceptionalism. It is also nearly impossible to get fired because they are so desperate for talent. As a result, the stakes of important decisions for the country are very low for individuals, where politics and personalities tend to dominate. I think of the problem as the decision makers being insulated from the consequences of their decisions except for how it plays politically. This insulation breaks any kind of feedback mechanism that would correct the organization or behavior. (There is an interesting parallel to how American voters treat foreign policy here too.) There are many civil servants that do a good job anyway because the mission is important to them, but it limits the organization's strategic impact.
A fascinating and insightful read. Thank you for sharing!
It's an interesting claim that the biggest problem is "mediocrity in bureaucracy".
My experience is all based on the private sector. But I have seen some bureaucracies that function very well. To me it seems nearly impossible to maintain excellence in a culture where firing people for poor performance is very rare. It might not seem like it would make a huge difference to fire 5-10% of your lowest performing staff every year, but it builds up over time. It's a lot easier to set high standards for your team as a manager when you aren't held back by your lowest performers.
After a decade a piece in the Australian and US DOD, walking the fields between intel, plans and ops, I have become obsessed with bureaucracy's barriers to innovation and how they are overcome.
"Innovation is the fault line between control and creativity. In any bureaucratic system, the preponderance of effort, ideas and resources are applied to control. Bureaucracy seeks standardization through rule setting. Innovation seeks the best solution regardless of constraints. Balancing this tension - keeping the world’s largest bureaucracy rolling along and doing things completely differently is next to impossible. This challenge is multiplied when considering the military is deeply embedded in a political-industrial complex that has ridged ends-ways-means, laws, regulations, rules, and norms." (Source https://milab.substack.com/p/overview-all-in-one)
Laura Thomas' insights above, are at the heart of the intersection between practical experience and intelligent, creative, and insightful perception of a system (a country or a bureaucracy). Her thoughtcraft as a C/O, dedicated to sense making for the purposes of advancing an important interest, shine here.
The interviewer should also be congratulated for following the right themes and drawing them out.
I remember a naval aviator forced into a PRT to make up numbers, wondering why the Afghans would remove brand new toilets in the brand new school house his team had built for the village. Only later did he realize the school represented a threat (to traditional culture) and the toilet was offensive. Multiple this by 1000s. Well meaning but culturally inept and resulting in counter productive outcomes. The book "The Ugly American" come to life. There is a reason JFK gave it to every senator. Shame they didn't read it or comprehend it if they did.
The king hit of this interview was this gem:
"Yeah, in the US, we have this legacy and culture of thinking we're incredibly rational people. We're incredibly well educated in terms of lots of college degrees and equate that with being smart. We think reason rules, that people always choose what’s in their best interest, and forget the role of emotion, and basic human nature. We have a sense that's very palpable in the U.S. and West – and we can debate where it comes from – I think there's a lot of religious sort of undertones to it – but it is a very real sense of the value of human rights, the value of democratic principles. You're stepping into a world where that has not been the history of that country and people, it's a completely different trajectory. We often see the world as we want it to be, not as it really is"
AI won't fix that!
you need to record the audio!!!!!!