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In Reply to: Re: Todays Thoughts posted by Farmer on September 15, 2004 at 06:11:34:
Thanks for your thoughts. It reminded me of a joke: How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? (Ans: Only one, but the lightbulb has to want to be changed.)
I'm not sure that I'm trying to change a person, per se. I'm trying to change a service delivery system (state bureaucracy) by making it more responsive to customer needs. If I was working in a for-profit business, the bottom line would drive the change process. Obstructive and counterproductive employees get laid off when there's a profit incentive. In government-run service delivery systems, there's no profit incentive to drive organizational growth.
Government bureaucracy tends to serve a purpose of self-perpetuation and easily loses its commitment to public service. For-profit service systems that loose their customer focus go out of business. Government bureaucracies just become increasingly cumbersome, inefficient, and obstructive when they loose sight of their public service as their "product" line.
I am feeling more hopeful today. To a large extent, I can choose how I let the work environment affect me.
