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Sunday, November 25, 2018

Differences in the Public and Private Sectors

I began my career as a High School Mathematics teacher. I worked in 3 different public high schools for a total of 4 years and then accepted an opportunity to lead a Math Tutoring center at a public community college. I worked at the community college for 5 years before leaving to the private sector. I've now been working in the private sector for 3 years and have noticed stark differences between government and private organizations. This post is only anecdotal and I haven't done much research beyond my observations, but here's what I've noticed:

Private Sector

  • Performance matters more.
  • People work harder.  They're doing more focused work and working longer hours
  • Much greater risk of being fired. In my first year in the private sector, I saw more people fired than in 9 years combined in the public sector.
  • Incentives are to save time,money, and remove inefficiencies.
  • Direct and brief communication.

Government

  • Incentives are to use funding or lose it.
  • Poor performers are difficult to dismiss.
  • More passive-aggressiveness. Less direct communication.

Reflecting back I am reminded of Charlie Munger's great quote:
"Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome"

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