Dissonance

I often spar with friends of mine who are in the private sector and we throw stereotyped insults at each other. I come out with the usual “greedy, expensive, ruthless, soulless, backstabbing” insults and he comes back with “inefficient, lazy, slow, hierarchical and poor.” Now, this is quite interesting. Before I was just bantering with a friend without really thinking but the stereotypes probably apply to both sectors. It is true that, at the core, the private sector is about money and the public about power, but there is more to it than this.

I asked my girlfriend about the Civil Service code--she didn’t know, she had to look it up, but apparently--civil servants are expected to carry out their role with dedication, commitment and in line with the core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Interestingly, if we compare that to the code of most of the big four which generally centres around excellence, objectivity, integrity, honesty, teamwork and leadership; the fundamental difference lies in impartiality and competence/excellence.

I said at the start of these 3 weeks that I would be testing whether the firm has integrity in the way it does business and I would say that it most certainly does. However, I would interpret it as this: in order to do good work, it needs a good reputation and to get this it must show integrity and honesty. As Dame Sue Street says, most important of all is that we hold on to our personal values.

For now at least, I’m excited to be going back to the classroom in September.
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14133684

The private sector

I started a 3 week internship in the private sector on Monday. The private setor--certainly money-making--is not in my bones, but, I do see this as a real opportunity to explore some variety; to look at instituional change; to look at how the private sector can change the public sector; after all, education is all that I have known.

The first thing that struck me was how quiet (and boring?) office work is. I have to say, though, that so far I have been excited by the pace and the professionalism that is omnipresent.

I'm sure both the public and private sectors focus on the deliverables/outcomes and try to do more for less. However, I will be closely scrutinising the integrity and the way business is done.

Watch this space...