Manter
Lunch Mob
He hates consultants. They’ll spend the money on the kids who couldn’t get into consulting but think #crazymanagementconsultants is aspirational, not satire
'super talented weirdos'- Dominic Cummings wants your cv
- Thread starter bimble
- Start date
That’s certainly the current state of play in much of the civil service
bimble
floofy
this bit of the intro;
"Now there is a confluence of: a) Brexit requires many large changes in policy and in the structure of decision-making, b) some people in government are prepared to take risks to change things a lot, and c) a new government with a significant majority and little need to worry about short-term unpopularity while trying to make rapid progress with long-term problems."
I do wonder what in his (galaxy sized obvs) mind these long term problems are.
"Now there is a confluence of: a) Brexit requires many large changes in policy and in the structure of decision-making, b) some people in government are prepared to take risks to change things a lot, and c) a new government with a significant majority and little need to worry about short-term unpopularity while trying to make rapid progress with long-term problems."
I do wonder what in his (galaxy sized obvs) mind these long term problems are.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
This is more about how they think of themselves already - bold modernisers, rebels against a stuffy old system, the vanguard, new brooms, disruptors. Definitely not a bunch of wonks. All they need is someone who can do something useful.
Not working out that well for Trump, that part.
Not working out that well for Trump, that part.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
It’s deliberate isn’t it. “Look at me I don’t play by the rules”.
izz
Increased Leisure Citizen
No it isn't.
e2a - sorry I was in mid-post and replied to Edie's post without finishing my own.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
And you see Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson as the men to rectify that?
Have a look at how much cash Boris Johnson pissed away on consultants for his half-baked garden bridge, with zero to show for it. That's what the whole country is going to look like now. We'll be at the mercy of every cunt with an elevator pitch and a five-figure hourly rate.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Because they are tories.
e2a: Cummings isn't even a tory. He's some new kind of wrecking ball without even the requirement to pretend to be respectful of established practice.
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beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
it isn't a question of working hard. staff in the dwp sanctioning claimants are working hard. is their work worth doing though?
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Also Cummings has William Gibson all wrong. Most of his stories are about ordinary people with unusual abilities who get swept up into some ludicrous quest, start to feel like they're a causative agent right at the heart of things but then ultimately realise they were just pawns in a game of vast inhuman forces that was always destined to play out in a certain way.
If anything, Jeremy Corbyn is the William Gibson protagonist in all this.
If anything, Jeremy Corbyn is the William Gibson protagonist in all this.
izz
Increased Leisure Citizen
Absolutely -I have no issue with the service being scrutinised, as with any major organisation there is need for change but there is no need for disruption. Tories are pissed because their ideas take so long to implement. But what if their ideas are destructive, expensive and stupid ?
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Well quite. And their work is gamified with targets, competition etc to make them feel productive even when all they're producing is misery. Half the public sector is spending more time meeting the criteria for appearing productive than actually doing productive work.
This is a stupid answer
Im interested to know why you think it’s in Johnson and Cummings interest to smash up the current system.
(I don’t think that’s their intention but anyway)
Stating the obvious
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
er you're on about civil servants being workshy layabouts, if i am "stating the obvious" then you're admitting you're off the mark
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
I hope you've got a nice jar of mustard handy because you're going to be eating these words in short order.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
What percentage of civil servants would you say are consultants?
Really? Maybe I have missed something. Go on...
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
No no, let's just wait and see eh?
8ball
Maximum Facepalm
That’s not just the public sector. In my private sector job it’s pretty much a requirement to spend well over 50% of time on unproductive bollocks.
Spandex
A crazy bulbous punchbag of sound
What Cummings is proposing is creating his own team, loyal to him, to circumvent the Sir Humphrys in the Civil Service.
The Civil Service, for good and bad, acts as a check on what governments can do. On the one hand they try to make ministers think through their plans and stop disastrous ideas being implemented; on the other hand they make it really hard for any real change to occur in the country.
I can understand Edie being cheered by removing that barrier to real change, but I'll go along with everyone else in being horrified by the idea that any brain fart Cummings or Johnson or Patel or Gove or Hancock has will forced through without anyone saying 'wait a minute, that won't work because...'
The Civil Service, for good and bad, acts as a check on what governments can do. On the one hand they try to make ministers think through their plans and stop disastrous ideas being implemented; on the other hand they make it really hard for any real change to occur in the country.
I can understand Edie being cheered by removing that barrier to real change, but I'll go along with everyone else in being horrified by the idea that any brain fart Cummings or Johnson or Patel or Gove or Hancock has will forced through without anyone saying 'wait a minute, that won't work because...'
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
i think the greater issue is the changes in the structure of decision-making - posting a job advert on a blog with applications going to a gmail account doesn't seem to me likely to be even as accountable as the government is now, it doesn't seem to be at all open, and it doesn't bode well for the pitiful level of parliamentary scrutiny the current administration has allowed.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Because the current system gets in their way. The civil service is just the start. Wait till you see what they’re going to do to the courts.
So you and bees genuinely think Johnson and Cummings intend to smash the system in some kind of bizarre own goal? But neither of you can explain why?
I don’t think that’s their intention for a minute. They can no doubt be accused of being wankers with massively inflated self importance about their own intelligence, and as FridgeMagnet says bold modernisers. But tbh I’m all for some bold modernisation. Possibly more than they’d be willing to concede, but I do appreciate the points izz makes. The ideas may be destructive, expensive and stupid. And checks and balances exist for a reason.
Oh right. Wow. Do you really think that?
Buddy Bradley
Pantheistic solipsist
"Sell advertising" is the usual answer.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
if at the next election a left-wing labour government was returned the civil service they found would have to go because it would be actively seeking to prevent eg nationalisation not on grounds of practicality but of political alignment.
Spandex
A crazy bulbous punchbag of sound
Yes they would. Cummings is proposing politicising the civil service.
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