December LC thread
12-06-2016
, 07:14 PM
12-06-2016
, 07:22 PM
12-06-2016
, 07:39 PM
12-06-2016
, 08:08 PM
12-06-2016
, 08:56 PM
12-06-2016
, 09:29 PM
Yeah maybe, but probably not.
Quote:
But that's not the main thing that makes me skeptical about this. My big problem is that this is a McKinsey report, and I have a fairly cynical view of McKinsey-driven "process improvement" blather. For example, the report suggests that the Pentagon can save loads of money by increasing its back-office productivity by 4-8 percent per year. "Private sector industries commonly show similar gains," they say merrily, so why not the Pentagon?
This is exactly the kind of thing that gives business consultants a bad name. Do private sector businesses really show routine annual productivity gains like this in their back-office operations? I doubt it very much. And even if they do, can the federal government do the same things that private industry does? Hard to say. In any case, it turns out that McKinsey's biggest finding is that the Pentagon is spending more on its contracts than it should. Here's how they propose to fix this:
The buzzword-to-reality ratio here is astronomical. I could have written this without knowing a thing about Pentagon procurement. Here's the McKinsey timeline:
Seriously? They think the Pentagon can massively transform its entire procurement process in eight months, at which point, they blandly say, it's time to "Validate savings and begin renegotiating contracts"? That's insane. I used to work for a pretty well-run private-sector company with 200 employees, and I don't think we could have done this in eight months. Hell, later on McKinsey even admits that "only about 17% of fundamental change projects deliver their full potential." But they blithely recommend full steam ahead anyway, because success will come with:
Strong, consistent top leadership
Clear vision, aligned with strategy and widely communicated
Effective governance structure with clear decision-making authority
Defined accountability at all levels with reward and enforcement mechanisms
Engaged workforce and supportive stakeholders
This is cribbed out of a book you can buy at Barnes & Noble for $29.95, and it basically describes the platonic ideal of a corporation. No one ever has all this stuff, and certainly not a gigantic federal bureaucracy.
This is exactly the kind of thing that gives business consultants a bad name. Do private sector businesses really show routine annual productivity gains like this in their back-office operations? I doubt it very much. And even if they do, can the federal government do the same things that private industry does? Hard to say. In any case, it turns out that McKinsey's biggest finding is that the Pentagon is spending more on its contracts than it should. Here's how they propose to fix this:
The buzzword-to-reality ratio here is astronomical. I could have written this without knowing a thing about Pentagon procurement. Here's the McKinsey timeline:
Seriously? They think the Pentagon can massively transform its entire procurement process in eight months, at which point, they blandly say, it's time to "Validate savings and begin renegotiating contracts"? That's insane. I used to work for a pretty well-run private-sector company with 200 employees, and I don't think we could have done this in eight months. Hell, later on McKinsey even admits that "only about 17% of fundamental change projects deliver their full potential." But they blithely recommend full steam ahead anyway, because success will come with:
Strong, consistent top leadership
Clear vision, aligned with strategy and widely communicated
Effective governance structure with clear decision-making authority
Defined accountability at all levels with reward and enforcement mechanisms
Engaged workforce and supportive stakeholders
This is cribbed out of a book you can buy at Barnes & Noble for $29.95, and it basically describes the platonic ideal of a corporation. No one ever has all this stuff, and certainly not a gigantic federal bureaucracy.
12-06-2016
, 11:09 PM
12-06-2016
, 11:56 PM
12-07-2016
, 12:03 AM
12-07-2016
, 12:15 AM
12-07-2016
, 12:16 AM
12-07-2016
, 12:19 AM
TV Land is amazing. The last time I watched it was some late-series episode of Happy Days, after they had literally jumped the shark I think. The episode featured the guys hornily chasing after stewardesses, and a stripper jumping out of a cake who was basically sexually assaulted by 2016 standards.
So I was just watching a very heartwarming episode of Andy Griffith. Otis miraculously sobers up to receive an award, on behalf of his late ancestor, from the town historical society. In the final joke - the mayor proposes a toast. Otis grabs a glass then looks at Andy and starts to put it back. In sage advice Andy says "Go ahead Otis, I believe Nathan (the late ancestor) would have wanted it that way."
Andy Griffith drunk enabler. Happy Days guys - horny stripper assaulters. What series from my childhood is next to be destroyed? Beverly Hillbillies casual racists? Gilligan's Island condones animal cruelty? Petticoat Junction is actually a bordello?
Plot for the episode on now: hardworking farm girl wants to wear makeup and smell nice. The nice lady working at the drugstore (and I think Andy's love interest - 20 years younger IRL of course) wants to give some to her, but the girl's gruff father won't allow it.
It turns out the daughter was all the gruff father had, and he needed her work on the farm too much to let her run around in makeup and dresses. Andy resolved the situation by convincing the gruff father to pimp out his now pretty daughter to get a young man to marry her and become another farmhand on his farm. Amazing.
(audience applauds)
The final scene has the daughter buying a bunch more makeup and wearing fancy white gloves. We all learned a valuable lesson - that women should be dude magnets, not farmhands.
So I was just watching a very heartwarming episode of Andy Griffith. Otis miraculously sobers up to receive an award, on behalf of his late ancestor, from the town historical society. In the final joke - the mayor proposes a toast. Otis grabs a glass then looks at Andy and starts to put it back. In sage advice Andy says "Go ahead Otis, I believe Nathan (the late ancestor) would have wanted it that way."
Andy Griffith drunk enabler. Happy Days guys - horny stripper assaulters. What series from my childhood is next to be destroyed? Beverly Hillbillies casual racists? Gilligan's Island condones animal cruelty? Petticoat Junction is actually a bordello?
Plot for the episode on now: hardworking farm girl wants to wear makeup and smell nice. The nice lady working at the drugstore (and I think Andy's love interest - 20 years younger IRL of course) wants to give some to her, but the girl's gruff father won't allow it.
It turns out the daughter was all the gruff father had, and he needed her work on the farm too much to let her run around in makeup and dresses. Andy resolved the situation by convincing the gruff father to pimp out his now pretty daughter to get a young man to marry her and become another farmhand on his farm. Amazing.
(audience applauds)
The final scene has the daughter buying a bunch more makeup and wearing fancy white gloves. We all learned a valuable lesson - that women should be dude magnets, not farmhands.
Last edited by suzzer99; 12-07-2016 at 12:36 AM.
Reason: scene not shown: later the 4 farmhands gang rape her
12-07-2016
, 01:14 AM
12-07-2016
, 03:07 AM
Quote:
TV Land is amazing. The last time I watched it was some late-series episode of Happy Days, after they had literally jumped the shark I think. The episode featured the guys hornily chasing after stewardesses, and a stripper jumping out of a cake who was basically sexually assaulted by 2016 standards.
So I was just watching a very heartwarming episode of Andy Griffith. Otis miraculously sobers up to receive an award, on behalf of his late ancestor, from the town historical society. In the final joke - the mayor proposes a toast. Otis grabs a glass then looks at Andy and starts to put it back. In sage advice Andy says "Go ahead Otis, I believe Nathan (the late ancestor) would have wanted it that way."
Andy Griffith drunk enabler. Happy Days guys - horny stripper assaulters. What series from my childhood is next to be destroyed? Beverly Hillbillies casual racists? Gilligan's Island condones animal cruelty? Petticoat Junction is actually a bordello?
Plot for the episode on now: hardworking farm girl wants to wear makeup and smell nice. The nice lady working at the drugstore (and I think Andy's love interest - 20 years younger IRL of course) wants to give some to her, but the girl's gruff father won't allow it.
It turns out the daughter was all the gruff father had, and he needed her work on the farm too much to let her run around in makeup and dresses. Andy resolved the situation by convincing the gruff father to pimp out his now pretty daughter to get a young man to marry her and become another farmhand on his farm. Amazing.
(audience applauds)
The final scene has the daughter buying a bunch more makeup and wearing fancy white gloves. We all learned a valuable lesson - that women should be dude magnets, not farmhands.
So I was just watching a very heartwarming episode of Andy Griffith. Otis miraculously sobers up to receive an award, on behalf of his late ancestor, from the town historical society. In the final joke - the mayor proposes a toast. Otis grabs a glass then looks at Andy and starts to put it back. In sage advice Andy says "Go ahead Otis, I believe Nathan (the late ancestor) would have wanted it that way."
Andy Griffith drunk enabler. Happy Days guys - horny stripper assaulters. What series from my childhood is next to be destroyed? Beverly Hillbillies casual racists? Gilligan's Island condones animal cruelty? Petticoat Junction is actually a bordello?
Plot for the episode on now: hardworking farm girl wants to wear makeup and smell nice. The nice lady working at the drugstore (and I think Andy's love interest - 20 years younger IRL of course) wants to give some to her, but the girl's gruff father won't allow it.
It turns out the daughter was all the gruff father had, and he needed her work on the farm too much to let her run around in makeup and dresses. Andy resolved the situation by convincing the gruff father to pimp out his now pretty daughter to get a young man to marry her and become another farmhand on his farm. Amazing.
(audience applauds)
The final scene has the daughter buying a bunch more makeup and wearing fancy white gloves. We all learned a valuable lesson - that women should be dude magnets, not farmhands.
12-07-2016
, 05:09 AM
12-07-2016
, 08:30 PM