I’ve mentioned James Watson’s new book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science, elsewhere, but I thought this passage would appeal to public sector types:

“… Watson notes that many intellectual conflicts in science play themselves out as contests over the control of physical space. Salaries are important, but space is even more important, since it’s a publicly visible sign of your standing and power: “Always buy adjacent property that comes up for sale”; “Be prepared to resign over inadequate space”; “In the Darwinian world of an academic department, if you don’t create such crises, limited resources will surely go to gutsier colleagues.” (Harvard Magazine)

I’m not sure if the battle for space is really the fiercest in the bureaucratic jungle:  budget cuts, tax cuts and increasing emphasis on management efficiency have moved a lot of the hard work to the accountant’s shanty.

Still,  everyone reporting to a supervisor will tell you that space and appearances matter to some executives.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Public Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.