To have government be more caring, compassionate and effective the people that ‘work-the-system’ need to be more hard-nosed, rational and strategic.
We complain we don’t have enough of the former, and that government is not meeting the increasingly complex needs of our communities. In reality, we need more of the latter; passionate and compassionate people who know how to cannibalize the system to get-great-stuff-done.
Paul Keating hit this nail on the head when he declared that “the problem with today’s politicians is they don’t know how to play politics”, well, to riff-off the Keating ‘spray’: being a passionate and caring public servant doesn't help if you don't know how to play-the-game!
You need to be a Master of Bureaucracy to get-great-stuff-done and we just don't teach that stuff (and yes.... it IS a skill you can learn).
