Joseph Schumpeter popularized the term “creative destruction” in economics.

Unless you’re an economist, you’ve probably never heard this word. (I’m not even sure how to pronounce it.) But holy crap, it’s real. Defined as creative economic destruction, it often results in disruption. (Recognized elsewhere in this blog.)

It’s number 5, from “The Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done” Link, which made me think immediately of Steve Jobs, the quintessential disruptor. The official “eduspeak” terminology is in the PDF, but I prefer the prevalent thought processes expressed in common lingo:

“The Cognitive Distortions of People Who Get Stuff Done.”

1. “I am exceptional.”
2. “X is sh*t. Y is genius.”
3. “I see two dots and draw the right line.”
4. “Painting by numbers isn’t art. And I want to make art.”
5. “I am a creative destruction machine.”

So, if you are a “creative destruction machine,” you are a schumpeterer. Or… a schumpeterier? (lol)

I find this interesting because earlier this week I met with a friend who works as a designer for the state – and hates it. OMG, does he hate it! He doesn’t actually hate the work – he hates the bullshit he has to deal with – to do the work. And based on what he told me, it is insane.

They don’t keep time sheets. They can’t be fired. They have ridiculous turnarounds on projects. (Not short, but long.) They have meetings to discuss meetings about meetings. Everything is a committee decision. They can spend months (and money) on a project, only to see it suddenly and quietly disappear. They can have multiple and often conflicting bosses. They have to endure relentless politics and position-jockeying along with considerable back stabbing and bush whacking by peers.

Yeah, sure sounds like a fun place. (sarcasm)

In fact, it’s the polar opposite of the Cognitive Distortions’ list above. So I took a stab at a new list, called:

“The Cognitive Distortions of People Who Never Get Sh*t Done.”

1. “We’re all equal – unless you have credentials.”
   (And the more credentials you have, the more you get paid.)
2. “Every idea has merit, we’ll discuss them all.”
   (Over several meetings, then we’ll run it by the union and executive committee.)
3. “We need to consider several courses of action.”
   (No matter how improbable some of them seem to be.)
4. “We need to follow a rigid, previously determined procedure.”
   (And not create a new, more efficient one.)
5. “We need to maintain the status quo.”
   (Anything pre-existing needs to be folded in.)

Now we know why everything takes forever. Or never gets done. Or is way over budget.