I currently host the Engipreneur Group on LinkedIn, which is specifically intended to target those in the “business of engineering.” The group is meant to serve as place to post project opportunities, share ideas, and link up with other entrepreneurial engineers. The question recently came up of whether or not the Engipreneur Group would permit public sector engineers to join and participate. It’s a fair question since government employees are technically not “in business” per se. This lead me to consider an even bigger question: Can the entrepreneurial qualities that make a good private sector engineer apply to those in the public sector as well? I believe that the answer is yes (and public sector employees will always be welcome to participate in the Engipreneur community).

In the last couple of years, I have witnessed a handful of coleagues move out of private engineering practice into the perceived safety net of public works. In nearly every case, the feedback I recieved from them after a few weeks on the job was basically the same. Here are a some quotes:

“It’s definitely a slower pace.”

“They keep telling me to slow down, to go back and check my work again, like I’m making others look bad.”

“Everyone seems content to just put in their 8 hours.”

“I don’t know what this one guy is even supposed to be doing; He just walks around all day talking to people.”

“Budgets and schedules don’t seem to matter. It’s more about politics and just putting in your time.”

“They joke that I probably won’t work so hard after my 90-day probation period.”

I always find such statements troubling, to say the least. It almost seems that the principles of good business have no place in the government sector. Don’t get me wrong – there are many hard working government employees out there; But, it seems that they tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

My first exposure to this phenomenon occurred in college when I was working as a Student Assistant Surveyor for the State of California, Department of Water Resources. There was an old timer named Lou who had worked for the State for his entire 40 year career. Lou would usually manage our field crew when we would travel to San Bernardino during the Summer months. Every day at 1:30, Lou would take off his hat, wipe the sweat off his head, look around, and declare to the crew,”Heat waves are getting pretty bad. We’d better tear it down and head back to the hotel to download the data cards.” Even with my limited experience, I recognized that heat waves had little effect on the laser guided instruments we were using. I also recognized that it only took about 3 minutes for Lou to download the data cards back in his hotel room. But this guy had learned how to work the system, and I didn’t complain because I could usually squeeze in a round of golf before it got dark.

Such blatant examples of government waste bother me a lot more today. I thought of Lou last week when I filed my State income tax return and was notified that the State of California would not be issuing refunds pending resolution of the current budget fiasco. Hmmm. Makes me think that we need some entrepreneurs in government to shake things up. If you’re a government employee who happened to stumble upon the Engipreneur Blog, please don’t fall into the complacency trap of your peers. Innovation, efficiency, and financial responsibility should have a prominent position on both the private and public sectors. Don’t let the curse of the government employee bog you down!