Re:Predatory Behavior Runs Rampant in Facebook’s Addiction S...
by jsgo on Monday May 21, 2018 @04:12PM
(#17121443)
anecdotal, but I worked a government contract job (with a union involved, if that matters). In that particular setting, it felt more like a "welfare with dignity" program: the work being performed only required a couple hours of each person's work day leaving excessive time to sit around. If you were a union employee and decided to work more than was necessary, well, that was very frowned upon by your peers. Didn't enjoy it so much, but it paid well and I did it while I was in college. Once I graduated, I moved off to find employment in development. I could've tried to wait for an opening for development at that place, but it had a very interesting dynamic: if you were a union employee, fellow union employees were nice to you (for the most part). If you crossed over to a management position, which application development was... it becomes a very toxic environment. Shame, really, as the people were good people outside of that weird us vs. them mentality.
I have looked at the various Code for America endeavors and you're right: it does appear that people who are part of it feel very motivated by mission, so things like that are probably a very strong net good.
Fewer conflicting incentives, for one.
I'd say that government is more legendarily inefficient, in the sense that it's something people just say without much data to back it. I've done chunks of consulting for both governments and very large companies. I don't think one is particularly more efficient than the other. The problem is more large organizations than their revenue model.
One real advantage government has is a sense of mission. I've met plenty of people in public service who really do view it as service to the public. At a large company if you want a bunch of people to row in the same direction you often have to make it personally valuable to them in the sense of explaining why it's better for their careers or their wallets. In government, I've had plenty of luck appealing to a sense of purpose, of doing good for the citizenry and the people being served.
If anybody would like to see for themselves, I recommend Code for America's annual conference, which is coming up at the end of the month in Oakland: http://www.cvent.com/events/code-for-america-summit-2018/eve...
The one time I went I met a lot of people who were excited about the way modern technology let them be radically more user-focused than old bureaucratic and/or computerized solutions allowed.