TED'S TAKE: GOVERNMENT IS LIKE A TALKING DOG

The U.S. government is a patchwork of departments and agencies that have evolved over time without much thought given to its growth.

Why? The government reacts to issues as they emerge and as such it tends to add functions where they seem to fit or, in some cases, creating new, separate departments. Rarely is something eliminated or reorganized. With development rooted in reaction and response (verus anticipation and planning) there is little energy or time devoted to appropriately integrating newly created functions into the existing complexity that is federal government. The Federal workforce is tasked with executing these functions in all their messy glory.

Generally, being a federal worker has meant stable pay, with perhaps the opportunity to increase pay and status, and reilable retirement. To get a pay raise one must manage someone. Thus, as many new hires are brought in, they wind up reporting to  existing staff. This leads to a segregation of work wherein the more senior member off loaded work onto the new hire. Over decades, this has resulted in thousands and thousands and thousands of two or three person departments with much work segregation and much uncoordinated workflow. This “the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing” has resulted in inherent inefficiencies.

Despite some workers belief in a greater calling to serve their country, the bureaucracy is so large, complex, hierarchic, and controlling of its members, that it is virtually impossible to influence it or its direction. Bureaucracy has its own inertial energy and usually moves slowly directed by a central cadre of imbedded senior career workers.

More challenging, when the senior agency leadership and political appointees seek to change direction, the myriad inefficiencies make such change difficult. Most resistant to change can simply drag their feet and wait for the next political appointee. The new political appointees do not understand the system so are at a loss to implement anything themselves. This structure and mindset makes new policy and innovations very hard to get done.

In the end, one must remember that the amazement in a talking dog is not how well it talks but that it talks at all!!! I trust you now understand why it’s amazing that the government is able to do anything.