Love the podcast - always v interesting and great listening. On the issue of 'why nothing works anymore' - one additional thought is that there has been some degree of deskilling of parts of the workforce because of the pandemic. Attrition of skills and knowledge can happen through simple lack of practice of key elements of work.
Going from handling ten of thousands of passengers to no passengers for a prolonged period and then back to tens of thousands is not an easy set of transitions. I'd be very curious to know how, for example, how in practical, logistical terms staff charged with handling these numbers were up-skilled for this sensitive and demanding role, where you must attend to people and security risks, quickly and efficiently.
I'm sure someone at DAA had a plan to handle the practical logistics involved...!
Some good points there. Sadly, there is no data - yet - to confirm your dead although they do make intuitive sense. Management - I use the term advisedly - often sack higher paid workers first. They tend to be the most experienced, productive ones.
Gate 355 & basic function of airport - is Dublin Airport seen as a profit centre and a source of dividends or as an economic enabler by its shareholder ? The role of Semi State sector needs re-examination in the context of the modern Irish economy.
I like the “cost-cutting gone too far” reasoning for the failure of operations in public operational activities - I’d like to add the belief that holding meetings solves problems - when it’s actually the practical enactment of decisions made in said meeting that deliver outcomes - however said decisions have to be practical, pragmatic and executed “now”!!
Corporate life in many ways echoes or replicates the political sphere. All sound and fury signifying nothing. Sounding and looking like men/women of action but merely being performative. Advancement is based on tribe rather than talent. Actually doing something always involves risk. Better to rise without trace to the top via never taking a risk. Let others do that and knife them when they make the odd mistake. And so on.
CFO’s often come in and go after a year or two, having swung their axe at the departments doing the heavy lifting, butchering the in-house practical knowledge base which is crucial for delivering quality of service. But that axe seldom seems to gets swung at the CFO’s fellow spoofers, who are busy in their talking shops conjuring up these hair-brained ideas to deliver on short term metrics whilst causing fundamental damage to the company. They hit their metric, get their bonus and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
It’s correct to criticise the ultra-short-termism. But where does it come from? The system is now hard-wired to deliver short term cash generation. CEO and CFO tenure is often short so they demand big pay deals with large termination payments built-in. Stock markets these days have a time horizon measured in seconds. Investing for the future is so yesterday.
Love the podcast - always v interesting and great listening. On the issue of 'why nothing works anymore' - one additional thought is that there has been some degree of deskilling of parts of the workforce because of the pandemic. Attrition of skills and knowledge can happen through simple lack of practice of key elements of work.
Going from handling ten of thousands of passengers to no passengers for a prolonged period and then back to tens of thousands is not an easy set of transitions. I'd be very curious to know how, for example, how in practical, logistical terms staff charged with handling these numbers were up-skilled for this sensitive and demanding role, where you must attend to people and security risks, quickly and efficiently.
I'm sure someone at DAA had a plan to handle the practical logistics involved...!
Some good points there. Sadly, there is no data - yet - to confirm your dead although they do make intuitive sense. Management - I use the term advisedly - often sack higher paid workers first. They tend to be the most experienced, productive ones.
Gate 355 & basic function of airport - is Dublin Airport seen as a profit centre and a source of dividends or as an economic enabler by its shareholder ? The role of Semi State sector needs re-examination in the context of the modern Irish economy.
It’s a shopping centre with a no-frills airline service tacked on. If they could figure out how to do without aeroplanes they would jump at it.
I like the “cost-cutting gone too far” reasoning for the failure of operations in public operational activities - I’d like to add the belief that holding meetings solves problems - when it’s actually the practical enactment of decisions made in said meeting that deliver outcomes - however said decisions have to be practical, pragmatic and executed “now”!!
Corporate life in many ways echoes or replicates the political sphere. All sound and fury signifying nothing. Sounding and looking like men/women of action but merely being performative. Advancement is based on tribe rather than talent. Actually doing something always involves risk. Better to rise without trace to the top via never taking a risk. Let others do that and knife them when they make the odd mistake. And so on.
Couldn’t agree more.
CFO’s often come in and go after a year or two, having swung their axe at the departments doing the heavy lifting, butchering the in-house practical knowledge base which is crucial for delivering quality of service. But that axe seldom seems to gets swung at the CFO’s fellow spoofers, who are busy in their talking shops conjuring up these hair-brained ideas to deliver on short term metrics whilst causing fundamental damage to the company. They hit their metric, get their bonus and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
It’s correct to criticise the ultra-short-termism. But where does it come from? The system is now hard-wired to deliver short term cash generation. CEO and CFO tenure is often short so they demand big pay deals with large termination payments built-in. Stock markets these days have a time horizon measured in seconds. Investing for the future is so yesterday.