Reply to Dinged for being "too smart" - how do I transition out of government?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'll take your story at face value. I don't think I'm too smart but I was definitely too ambitious for the government agency I worked at.

Go back to consulting. My government colleagues warned me that the private sector is awful and requires long hours. But I am so so so much happier. I don't mind long hours when I like my coworkers and have work to do and deadlines. I found the slow pce of my agency soul sucking. [b]Government has lazy people and the smart people who stick around for some reason are able to tolerate and thrive in that environment.[/b] Maybe they are more attached to the mission. Or more patient. Who knows. [/quote]

I hate generalizations like this.  I've met a lot of smart and capable people in Government.  The people who were the most frustrated and left for the private sector were the people who couldn't handled collaborating, building consensus.  That is part of bureaucracy, and it slows things down, but it is actually necessary for many government missions.  Things move faster in the private sector, but it isn't because people in government are lazy.  It's because in government, risk is handled differently. The private sector can take risks and move in leaps and bounds in a way that government agencies cannot -- and should not.

It's fine if you prefer an environment where risk-taking is embraced more, where things move faster.  But don't suggest that things move slower in government because government workers are lazy.   Government agencies have a different mission and different priorities than the private sector.  And that drives the pace.

Frankly, I don't think that is OP's issue.  I think OP just doesn't like working with other people or doing anything that isn't high profile.  There's a lot of work in government that isn't high profile or glamorous.  And it's expected that everyone play a part in doing that work, because it's necessary.  If OP marched into a job and took all of the exciting projects and refused to do the more mundane work and her boss indulged that, then of course her coworkers are going to get irritated, especially if they have been there a while and understand that everyone has to do some grunt work.

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Calm down. I said that there are lazy people in government. Not that government workers are lazy. [/quote]

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