One column was a story of an intern at BigExpensiveComputer Company, which had million-dollar support contracts on mainframes and software. As our hero learned the ropes of his small piece of a large project, he shared an office with a fellow who didn't do anything but read the sports sections and fiddle with things on his desk. Hero speculated on how the officemate kept his job with such a lousy work ethic. Hero came in one morning to find the officemate on the phone -- all day long -- stepping a customer with a crashed database through picking up all the scattered bits and putting the software back together.
Turned out said officemate was the only one left who understood a ancient computer/software combination that BEC Co had sold, and still earned seven figures on the maintenance of. BEC Co was happy to pay the man big bucks to sit around and figure betting odds on horses, just so he'd be there on that one day every few years when something really bad happened. Insurance.
How many places in government are like that, where most years you don't need an expert on shield volcanos, but this month something started steaming in Lake Erie and people want answers now?
The military is one role where efficiency isn't top priority, of course -- coverage and robustness compete with it.
Streamlining is like a game of Jenga. If there is a lot of redundancy, you can go a long time. I don't think companies or gov't agencies go on too long for their own good at this. They get spooked at the empty chairs and lose their nerve.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's possible to go too far and sometimes people do.
But when you have (and this is strictly sarcasm and bears no resemblance to reality) a branch regulating large animal veterinarians in the Department of Transportation it might be time for a RIF. Differently, if Health and Human Services invests in Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and abortion there is a clear missional dissonance.
ReplyDelete