Jack Welch had some funny comments on the differences of business and politics. I thought I would post them, because they do bring some sanity to the triumphalistic claims of the current campaign climate.
"Basically, government is riddled with bureaucracy, waste, and inefficiency. In a company, you can clean those up, and you have to. In government, they're forever.
Why? For one, because it's difficult to move people up or out based on merit. Most government agencies have no differentiation to speak of. You can work for forty years, never excel or make a dent in results, and still get an annual raise. For another, you just cannot speak or act candidly in government without getting nailed. It is a world filled with compromise, patronage, and quid pro quo.
Yes, all these behaviors exist in business, but managers can rally against them on their own, or join a company that does so as a matter of course.
Finally, governments can afford to be beureaucratic because they don't compete....in the public sector you don't have to provide the highest value products or find the lowest cost solutions in order to create revenue. You can just keep raising taxes to pay for everything."
Winning. 2005. NY: Harper Business, 356-357.
1 comments:
Sad but true...
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