rusty nuts

Some time ago, in an alter ego as a consultant, I was called in to examine
an 'hr system' in a large government department. The system was so bad that
it could not even count the number of staff employed either abroad or at
home, never mind report on any othe KPI's that were deemed important at the
time...

During the course of a week I determined a simple solution, one needing
neither a lot of money or needing to bother the existing staff too much.

Two lower level staff caught wind of this, and invited me to a meeting,
after lunch on Friday.

They proceeded to rip me a new one for 6 hours straight - which was amusing
(at first) because I weighed more than the pair of them put together. They
were also wearing cardigans, tan coloured pants and pasty complexions to
match.
And they were FIERCE.

Like psychotic weasels fierce.

It turned out that their sole function in the department was the (mis)
operation of this system.

They OWNED its ass!

They had devolved power to themselves by some abominable process (peter
principle meets voodoo I think) and had devoured in a relentlessly feeble,
gummy sort of way, all opposition.
They had failed their way into ownership of this system and God help any
soul entering their domain.

I eventually got away by throwing my notes into a corner of the meeting room
then picking up the hat rack and brandishing it at them whilst I backed
towards the door.

I vaulted the security races, and NEVER EVER went back.

So I laud the courage of the Task Group Panelists. It was also a futile
effort - the people the report is critical of have rusted on and are skilled
in the removal and dissolution of dissent. Their hides could be used as a
replacement for the ceramic tiles glued to the hull of the shuttle, and they
have NO SHAME.

A REPORT is just not going to do a damn thing - these folks will just
subsume it and move on - remember that they have mortgages, education funds,
health funds, swimming pools, SVU's to protect. They sure as hell will never
permit an innovative and efficient NASA to threaten their niche.

Any attempt to revitalise the management structure of NASA will need to be
marshalled as well as the D-Day invasions - nothing else will work.