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4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

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431–440 of 774 posts

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I'll have to call bullshit on every level of that rationale. - Those people are not doing teamwork. People (competent or not) don't leave good jobs just because some random coworker is lazy. - Even if they were doing teamwork, hardworking incompetent team members are the ones that make life hard for everybody else, not lazy ones. - Those people are not reaping any concrete benefit from being lazy. Being forced to…

> Being forced to sit in a chair the entire day with nothing to do is torture; if they are picking that instead of doing their work there's a real problem somewhere. I don’t know what you’re arguing at this point. I’m not talk about people sitting in a chair doing nothing. > - I really doubt the people in question actually face "no consequences" and are not threatened all the time. That almost never happens in practi…

> I’m not talk about people sitting in a chair doing nothing.

Aren't you taking about public attendants at a DMV?

> If you’re just choosing not to believe that a DMV office could be run poorly

I suggest you read my post again. Or... by "run poorly" you mean "the management not constantly punishing people"?

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#432

So sad to hear this. It sounds like gutting various agencies and public sector is being done for no real purpose other than to "save". What's being saved for is something apparently nobody knows. Probably not even the current top brass.

We're not saving anything. The budget is as large as ever, with $150B increase on "border control". That's what we're gutting all this for. A crying shame.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#433
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s going to kill institutional knowledge and be so expensive to repair after regime change.

Ever org I've worked for slowly became unable to innovate because of "institutional knowledge". I think it's important to forget, to some extent, every once in a while. It forces a new traversal of the problem space, but in a modern context, with modern tools, fresh eyes, and a better understanding of what's needed. Thus we have Space X. There are some great interviews with Jim Keller, who has a similar perspective:…

And did you stick around to see what happens after they go full tabula rasa? I have: they fall so far behind they close up shop. The proper response is to move slowly and intentionally and use indicators. Like ‘design thinking’, with prototyping and feedback and incremental feedback, not burn shit to the ground because planning is too hard mentality. But I realize that’s what shareholders demand. And now that gov’t is being run like a business, prepare to see bankruptcies.

Fortunately other, more rational countries, will fill the gaps. They’ve just been complacent because the US was on its game for so long. Especially the ESA.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#435
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s going to kill institutional knowledge and be so expensive to repair after regime change.

Ever org I've worked for slowly became unable to innovate because of "institutional knowledge". I think it's important to forget, to some extent, every once in a while. It forces a new traversal of the problem space, but in a modern context, with modern tools, fresh eyes, and a better understanding of what's needed. Thus we have Space X. There are some great interviews with Jim Keller, who has a similar perspective:…

== What you end up with will always be better than what you started with.==

That is quite the absolute statement. Could you share some data to back this up?

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#436

The Federal Reserve is an example of a well run and focused organization, because they have a very short, very simple mandate: maximize employment and ensure price stability. Everything they do is in service to those two goals and every employee can hold themselves and their bosses accountable for those goals. Elected representatives and the American public can hold them accountable. If we want a more efficient and i…

> Federal Reserve is an example of a well run and focused organization,

It's also fully independent of the government and thus not affected by all this Trump/Musk/DOGE stupidity, as much as Trump tries.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#437
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever org I've worked for slowly became unable to innovate because of "institutional knowledge". I think it's important to forget, to some extent, every once in a while. It forces a new traversal of the problem space, but in a modern context, with modern tools, fresh eyes, and a better understanding of what's needed. Thus we have Space X. There are some great interviews with Jim Keller, who has a similar perspective:…

== What you end up with will always be better than what you started with.== That is quite the absolute statement. Could you share some data to back this up?

Sorry it wasn't clear enough, but I was paraphrasing Jim Keller. See the several Lex Fridman episodes with him, where he talks about it. The success with his projects would probably be the data you're looking for.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#438
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s going to kill institutional knowledge and be so expensive to repair after regime change.

Ever org I've worked for slowly became unable to innovate because of "institutional knowledge". I think it's important to forget, to some extent, every once in a while. It forces a new traversal of the problem space, but in a modern context, with modern tools, fresh eyes, and a better understanding of what's needed. Thus we have Space X. There are some great interviews with Jim Keller, who has a similar perspective:…

Entrenched ways are not the same as institutional knowledge. You can have one without the other. Some things are not written down but executed as part of common knowledge, and if you drop enough people you'll have to relearn it the hard way.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#439
post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that particular act of stupidity is about fucking up NOAA so it can be privatized by Trump cronies, while simultaneously burying "inconvenient truths" that inconvenience the same people. Defunding NASA is about the tax cuts. NOAA is different.

Side note: Inconvenient Truth documentary might have actually been more widely accepted if it wasn’t a political ad for Al Gore

There’s the problem. It wasn’t a political ad for Al Gore, it was published 8 years before he ran. It just so happened he was actually interested in improving things and leaning on smarter people for policy, but that made half the country go “Eeeewww… facts! Elitism!! we want someone dumber we can have a beer with for president!” That was literally an argument in the 2000 election: who would you rather drink with. Then GWB put on his yokel hat and yokel accent and dumbed it down so that people wouldn’t be scared. Instead of voting for someone with a plan, they voted for some rich cokehead fail-son from the Bush dynasty because he seemed more “of the people”. But Al Gore takes the flak for trying to raise awareness. Unbelievable how dumb this country is as a whole. And 10x dumber now that the current POTUS is unwriting history at rocket’s pace.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#440

I’m trying to think how I feel about this. I’ve been obsessed with space for a long time, remember traveling to see my first rocket launch of the shuttle in 2006. Follow the commercial development closely since then. Their science missions are inspiring, but not as inspiring as they ought to be. NASA needs an overhaul. This isn’t how I would do it, but that’s not how things work in the real world. SLS is the elephant…

> NASA needs an overhaul. This isn’t how I would do it, but that’s not how things work in the real world. SLS is the elephant in the room and is a complete disaster. It’s a jobs program limping along decades old technology when the commercial options are better. It’s more accurate to say that Congress needs an overhaul. Over the years NASA administrators have pushed back on SLS to the fullest extent you’d expect, but…

I think it's more accurate to say that our oligarchs need an overhaul. Some of the worst people who are actively working against the public are consistently ending up in positions of incredible, unchecked power.
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