Bill Schrier is one of my favorite geeks, if not my favorite, and he wrote the following blog post recently,
If it is always “Day 1” at Amazon, it is Day 10 in Government.
Bill touches on a number of topics that differentiate the private sector and government. Two that dominate in my thinking are:
- Speed of decision-making
- Government fear of making a mistake
Both of these are tied together. If you want to know why I left Washington State Emergency Management in 1996, it was these two things. The then-boss was afraid of making a mistake and killed every new idea I presented with 20 questions. When answered, there were another 20. I got the message — time to go!
And, on that last note, remember that "generally" people don't leave organizations, they leave bosses.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
