What are the qualifications for a job running a government agency with a billion dollar budget and 350,000 employees?
If you ran a company with half a billion dollar budget and 20,000 employees would that give you the "management skills" to run the bigger agency?
What exactly are management skills?
People working on the line making airplane engines or in hospital emergency rooms often say to each other, "Who are the morons running this shop?" They can often see mismanagement and know how to fix it but they aren't "qualified."
My brother-in-law worked making airplane engines for 30 years, and along the way people along the line kept coming to him for advice about how to get things done more efficiently. Ultimately, the higher ups called him in and talked to him about becoming part of management.
But there was one problem. He never finished college. Left without a degree. Can't be management at GE without a BA. Go back to school, night school, correspondence school, anything, just finesse the degree in anything, basket weaving, so we can bring you up to management.
He was very properly insulted.
"Hey, if I'm not good enough to be a manager without that parchment, then I won't be any better with it. I'm okay with where I am. You can keep your management job."
Eventually, they gave in and just installed him in management, where he made his factory one of the most productive in the country.
When Trump acolytes disparage the "elites" they are thinking of stories like that. In the eyes of the line workers, the managers who have the college degrees, the "qualifications" are illegitimate, just bastards intent on keeping the big jobs and high salaries for the guys in their club.
So when the White House guy defended Dr. Jackson, the White House Physician, who Trump appointed head of the VA because Jackson was effusive at the press conference where he said Mr. Trump was so healthy he'd live to be 200 if he ate right, it made sense to the Trump crowd.
Oh, but he has no CEO experience.
"So what?" The VA's been a mess for decades and it's been run by "qualified" men with lots of experience and degrees. Who is ever qualified to run an operation that big? Fact is, CEO jobs are easier than the jobs in the trenches.
Reminds me of the conversation I had with a high end Washington lawyer after Larry Summers got fired as president of Harvard. "Too bad," this lawyer said, "He had such a confluence of talents and skill sets."
"Rubbish," I told him. "Being President of Harvard is the easiest job I can think of. Just keep your mouth shut and let the money flow in. His problem was he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He didn't want the job enough."
The lawyer looked like I'd slapped him in the face. Then he smiled weakly and said, "You know, you might have something there."
If you ran a company with half a billion dollar budget and 20,000 employees would that give you the "management skills" to run the bigger agency?
What exactly are management skills?
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| Is this actually America? |
People working on the line making airplane engines or in hospital emergency rooms often say to each other, "Who are the morons running this shop?" They can often see mismanagement and know how to fix it but they aren't "qualified."
My brother-in-law worked making airplane engines for 30 years, and along the way people along the line kept coming to him for advice about how to get things done more efficiently. Ultimately, the higher ups called him in and talked to him about becoming part of management.
But there was one problem. He never finished college. Left without a degree. Can't be management at GE without a BA. Go back to school, night school, correspondence school, anything, just finesse the degree in anything, basket weaving, so we can bring you up to management.
 |
| Looks qualified to me. Look at that great uniform! |
He was very properly insulted.
"Hey, if I'm not good enough to be a manager without that parchment, then I won't be any better with it. I'm okay with where I am. You can keep your management job."
Eventually, they gave in and just installed him in management, where he made his factory one of the most productive in the country.
When Trump acolytes disparage the "elites" they are thinking of stories like that. In the eyes of the line workers, the managers who have the college degrees, the "qualifications" are illegitimate, just bastards intent on keeping the big jobs and high salaries for the guys in their club.
So when the White House guy defended Dr. Jackson, the White House Physician, who Trump appointed head of the VA because Jackson was effusive at the press conference where he said Mr. Trump was so healthy he'd live to be 200 if he ate right, it made sense to the Trump crowd.
Oh, but he has no CEO experience.
"So what?" The VA's been a mess for decades and it's been run by "qualified" men with lots of experience and degrees. Who is ever qualified to run an operation that big? Fact is, CEO jobs are easier than the jobs in the trenches.
Reminds me of the conversation I had with a high end Washington lawyer after Larry Summers got fired as president of Harvard. "Too bad," this lawyer said, "He had such a confluence of talents and skill sets."
"Rubbish," I told him. "Being President of Harvard is the easiest job I can think of. Just keep your mouth shut and let the money flow in. His problem was he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He didn't want the job enough."
The lawyer looked like I'd slapped him in the face. Then he smiled weakly and said, "You know, you might have something there."
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