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As somebody with experience at NASA, this made me chortle. I would NOT characterize the average civil servant that I worked with as "devoted to the goals of the
by bumby 5y ago
As somebody with experience at NASA, this made me chortle. I would NOT characterize the average civil servant that I worked with as "devoted to the goals of the organization." That includes the lowest level field organizations. Unfortunately, for the average employee, it eventually gets treated like any other job.
It's possible this dichotomy works in theory only. Being generous, it's possible they just disagree about the goals of the organization.
- avianlyric 5y agoThat’s the point. The second group, those who only care about the existence of the organisation, and the power/money it provides to them, have taken over at NASA. As a result only those who act to increase the power/wealth at the expense of all else, such as the original goals of the organisation, get promoted and hang around. The end result, an organisation that achieves very little, and consumes huge amounts of resources, full of people who really don’t care about the fundamental goals of the organisation.
- bumby 5y agoOk, I see your point and think you're right. The quote distinguished between scientists/technicians and management. I met many in the former group who cared little about the goals of the organization, but to your point, they had been within the organization a long time.
- shkkmo 5y agoI don't think the technician/management dichomoty is a good proxy. There are people from both groups who care about the goals more than the organization, but they not the people being given power.