This was such a good post. It was great getting accounts of your experiences in both software and in the military.
Markus gives a thoughtful comment on your experiences in depth. I think just want to echo what he says.
Here are some low quality opinions/thoughts (I’m just some random dude on the internet):
My guess, based on a hopefully reasonable reading of your writing, is that your instincts are right and your bad experiences are probably due to dysfunction from bad management and this is unfair.
In the private sector when bad management happens, good talent can just go elsewhere. In the case of the military, maybe something pathological can happen, where people are locked into roles, and this leads to mistreatment.
Some of the things you mentioned, like sudden high priority calls with a flag officer and operations around the clock, do happen and aren’t avoidable in good, high functioning organizations. In many successful organizations, personal assistants or operations staff do put up with this. But these people are paid very well, like, well into the six figures.
Good ops/assistant talent is rarer than it seems and is really respected in good orgs. This kind of talent is usually given a lot of “space”, “agency”, trust and respect.
Good organizations don’t see operations or execution as a side show, and I think you’re really on the nose with your post, which was really valuable.
You may find it interesting that in the military being a flag officer’s assistant is a very high prestige gig and reserved for top performers. But there isn’t an “executive assistant” career track so a person does this role for 2-3 years then rotates back to day-to-day operations.
For a given rank, compensation does not vary between roles in the military so perhaps the “clout” associated with being an assistant makes up for this.
Same thing with being a law clerk in the field of law.
I really don’t know much about either domain, but by mentioning law clerks, maybe you’re suggesting that the flag officer assistant role serves as a special tour/marker of status that is awarded for especially promising officers.
This seems fascinating because these particular institutions work well in the US (probably), so understanding them seems useful to apply them to other domains. Also these paths might govern and control who ends up in these important positions (admirals, generals, judges).
If you have more thoughts about these institutions, incentives, operations, it would be great to read!
Perhaps one way to tip the scales towards making things right for operations management folks is to play with more creative forms of compensation. As the career guide notes, a lot of what operations management does is a kind of risk management. At the base level, you’re there to prevent things from going off the rails. You excel if you further enable members of the organization. How can operations folks get some of the upside of the organization performing more strongly?
Effective altruism seems more likely to attract researchers, philosophers, and software engineers than people who are good at operations. The skillset seems to be somewhat rare in the community.
The solution that seems best, easy and obvious:
EA orgs and funders can develop norms for much higher pay standards, e.g. double or more for these operations or assistant roles, than roles that historically have been in larger supply and also often get a lot of “compensating differentials” (clout, visibility).
This was such a good post. It was great getting accounts of your experiences in both software and in the military.
Markus gives a thoughtful comment on your experiences in depth. I think just want to echo what he says.
Here are some low quality opinions/thoughts (I’m just some random dude on the internet):
My guess, based on a hopefully reasonable reading of your writing, is that your instincts are right and your bad experiences are probably due to dysfunction from bad management and this is unfair.
In the private sector when bad management happens, good talent can just go elsewhere. In the case of the military, maybe something pathological can happen, where people are locked into roles, and this leads to mistreatment.
Some of the things you mentioned, like sudden high priority calls with a flag officer and operations around the clock, do happen and aren’t avoidable in good, high functioning organizations. In many successful organizations, personal assistants or operations staff do put up with this. But these people are paid very well, like, well into the six figures.
Good ops/assistant talent is rarer than it seems and is really respected in good orgs. This kind of talent is usually given a lot of “space”, “agency”, trust and respect.
Good organizations don’t see operations or execution as a side show, and I think you’re really on the nose with your post, which was really valuable.
You may find it interesting that in the military being a flag officer’s assistant is a very high prestige gig and reserved for top performers. But there isn’t an “executive assistant” career track so a person does this role for 2-3 years then rotates back to day-to-day operations.
For a given rank, compensation does not vary between roles in the military so perhaps the “clout” associated with being an assistant makes up for this.
Same thing with being a law clerk in the field of law.
Yes, this is really interesting.
I really don’t know much about either domain, but by mentioning law clerks, maybe you’re suggesting that the flag officer assistant role serves as a special tour/marker of status that is awarded for especially promising officers.
This seems fascinating because these particular institutions work well in the US (probably), so understanding them seems useful to apply them to other domains. Also these paths might govern and control who ends up in these important positions (admirals, generals, judges).
If you have more thoughts about these institutions, incentives, operations, it would be great to read!
The solution that seems best, easy and obvious:
EA orgs and funders can develop norms for much higher pay standards, e.g. double or more for these operations or assistant roles, than roles that historically have been in larger supply and also often get a lot of “compensating differentials” (clout, visibility).