The data on public spending inflation is clear: cost increases are driven by increases in activity - not expenditure. Public agencies are increasingly expected to do more, often with the same or fewer resources.
Herein lies the problem.
“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all of those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”
- Thomas Sowell
Economics 101: opportunity cost. When we spend our resources on one thing, we no longer have them to spend on something else.
We understand that (sort of) with money, but less so with time. I am frequently astonished at the number of dedicated, purpose-driven senior public leaders who spend their energy on things below their pay grade.
So here's a little rant:
When you waste time on low-impact initiatives, don’t delegate, don’t make decisions, keep something in draft for an extra two weeks because no one wants to be held accountable, ‘jump to’ for squeaky wheels, cater to grumpy politicians, work around and thereby perpetuate a crappy process, attend meetings you should have deputised for, avoid risk, report on things instead of doing them, write emails in place of hard conversations, go around in circles, work in silos or duplicate effort…. you’re ripping off the community.
How you spend time matters at least as much as how you spend money. And tou’re not getting any more of either.
