To think Dominic Cummings needs a clip round the ear?

[MoltoAgitato]

I mean, really, who does he think he is? He looks like Chris Evans’ scruffier older brother (with apologies to Chris Evans) and behaves like someone who wasn’t allowed into one of those dining societies at Oxford and is now extracting Revenge of the Nerds. And what’s with the privately educated, Oxford graduate bemoaning the high numbers of privately educated Oxbridge graduates in the Civil Service? A complete lack of self awareness to realise he is the problem.

I do think that the Civil Service will have him for breakfast though.

Waiting for him and Bozza to fall out. Boz is so lazy he's let DC have free rein. It will come to the point where Boz has to carry the can for this slovenly approach and Cummings will be sniggering in a corner saying 'not my fault'. Looking forward to it. Speaking of sniggering in corners, where is Michael Gove?

I'm a data scientist, a weirdo & a unreformed scruffbag. I even know an awful lot about multiple policy areas. I've written articles incorporating 'complexity' science and how it affects behaviour (something DC says he wants in his recruitment drive).

DC doesn't actually want us.
He wants DISRUPTERS or colluders with Disrupters. He wants people who agree with tearing institutions apart & don't care about collateral damage. People who are so blinkered that they don't think sideways or who go along with the "fun" of creating havoc. DC won't want any independent thought in his minions unless it conforms closely with what his own enormous Ego desires.

Something I note about the recruitment drive is DC wants YOUNG people. To mould them into his mindset, who don't see the value of existing institutions?

"recent graduates in economics."
"Junior researchers"
"The ideal candidate might, for example, have a degree in maths and economics, worked at the LHC in one summer, worked with a quant fund another summer, and written software for a YC startup in a third summer!" eg., the ideal candidate barely has any experience after leaving Uni

"If you cut it you will be involved in things at the age of ~21 "

Is that ACTUALLY LEGAL? To blatently advertise for mostly or specifically young people, when there's no reason why the job needs to go to young folk?

Cameron had one cut from the same scruffy cloth. Steve Hilton was going to turn the system upside-down, but soon found out this was difficult and quit. Last seen indulging rightwing nutjobs on Fox News.

ps; one of my other theories is that people who are attracted by Bullshitters (Scott Adams, DC) & who easily employ Bullshitting methods to persuade the masses (BJ, Trump) are actually terrible terrible judges of competence. And most importantly, they are very easily taken in by bullshitters.

Like Trump before him, DC is going to recruit a lot of bullshitters. Coz he believes people like that.

People who are so blinkered that they don't think sideways or who go along with the "fun" of creating havoc.

Does this mean people who don’t think through the unintended consequences of their actions? If so, I agree. That’s why he wants very young people. Also because they’re easier to bully.

He basically wants people who can write AI models to run everything- he wants Skynet to replace the civil service.

And we all know how that ends....

It’s also just revolting language to use when you want to hire someone: cut it; binned; weirdos.

And he wants Oxbridge graduates (or graduates of top universities with quant degrees) in one part of his post, but then talks about them with total contempt in another.

In other words, he is a person with no respect for anyone else. He’s a bully and an egoist. He wants minions and skivvies, not employees.

YY to “disrupters”, same mould as Brexit. Get on with furthering your own agenda whilst Rome burns.

I didn’t do well at school, didn’t pass many exams, and didn’t go to Oxbridge - I am from a Northern working class family. I have however worked hard, and am now a senior manager in the Civil Service.
Cummings has had limited dealings what the Civil Service, just the ones that hang out in Westminster, who are predominately of a type, and he is tarring the entire leadership of the Civil Service with that particular brush - which is really unfair. I know lots of interesting, creative, disrupting people in the Civil Service, he just needs to get his beak out of Westminster and look for them.
I am not saying he is completely wrong, there are some dodgy appointments made, peoples “mates” turn up on contracts way too frequently, there is a London bias that needs sorting out, the whole consultatant / contractor thing needs much better assurance,
Plus, people move every 18 months, firstly, as it’s the only way to get a pay rise, and secondly the Civil Service does lots of appointments on 2 year FTCs, so of course you move before your contract ends.
He’s being overly simplistic, and unless he’s willing to put the time in to fully understand the issues, his reforms will fail.

tbh your OP reads as though you spend a lot of time on Twitter and confuse tweets for political analysis. Being an Oxbridge graduate doesn't mean you can't see the problems with an institution relying heavily on one demographic. Although imo I don't think the civil service relies as heavily on Oxbridge as DC thinks it does ... but it has been a while since I've worked closely with it so it could be the case now.

I agree with Bluntness the civil service does need overhauled.

There's no way Dominic Cummings or any other single individual will be able to do it. There need to be systemic changes from recruitment to processes from responsibility lines to structures. The type of change that is needed isn't the job of one person and we shouldn't be negative about much needed reform because we don't like the way someone is portrayed or perceived in the media. Civil service reform is much bigger than Dominic Cummings. And it would be much more beneficial if all those who hate him, directed their energies at suggesting models for change or pointed to precedents overseas where civil service departments have been overhauled. That would actually help the civil service, Government and the country rather than falling into defending the current structure because they don't like DC.

I did wonder about the legality of advertising for young people. Surely that's age discrimination. He'll brush it off though, seems to be untouchable and he knows it.

It seems there is consensus that a lot of the structures and organic evolution of the civil service does need looking at. That’s not to say all the people in the civil service are terrible but perhaps more that the good people within the organisations are not enabled to flourish and instead fester and become jobsworths, that’s a cultural problem not an individual problem.

I think he’s beginning to tackle an important problem and like his approach so far.

I think DC is a refreshing change. The entire machinery of the civil service needs a bloody good shake up. They are London centric, self serving inhibitors of change.
Good on you Dominic.
Sort out the inertia.

I really enjoyed reading his post / Job ad, whatever it was.

Obviously Mumsnet Remainers will hate it - and him - that goes without saying. But maybe he’ll attract some people with interesting backgrounds who can’t be bothered to plod through 16 rounds of civil service competency-based interviewing.

I did wonder about the legality of advertising for young people. Surely that's age discrimination. He'll brush it off though, seems to be untouchable and he knows it.

I don’t think he believes in identity politics and SJ warring. His paragraph about diversity makes that clear too.

This will be a low paid job so really only suitable for someone young. But wow, what experience!

Does everybody who is happy for DC to rip up employment law in this manner (to achieve what they consider to be an important change) understand that the precedent set could very quickly apply to them? That their employers will soon be free to advertise like this, to fire them at will, to discriminate against them in favour of whichever flavour of the month type employee ticks their boxes on that particular day?

But maybe he’ll attract some people with interesting backgrounds who can’t be bothered to plod through 16 rounds of civil service competency-based interviewing.

Oh, I’m sure it will. And who can’t be bothered respecting any policies or laws, or their fellow employees. I’m sure they’ll be a pleasure to work with.

I’m a die hard remainer. Die hard.

But I can see how fucking smart he is. I can’t believe people are still underestimating him on here. Wake up people!

Both the Leave campaign and the ejection campaign were masterclasses on how to influence people. He’s very clever and very dangerous.

Election

LaurieMarlow

You’re right, he is very clever.
Clever enough to say he wants to hire people who are smarter than he is, but who actually aren’t, because if they were, they would shun him like a coughing heifer.

He's puppeteered the whole brexit shambles behind Boris Johnson. He's a slimy little aristocratic cunt.

jollyroger I think most posters realise you're talking nonsense. Are you aware how most people come to the civil service currently? Are you aware that MPs often advertise on their own blogs for staff? Are you aware how much movement within the civil service is limited to internal applicants? And atm employment law means you can be fired at will within a probationary period.

By all means dislike DC but don't resort to falsehoods and hyperbole. It undermines whatever your point may be.

I personally think because I work in the area that the recruitment methods employed by most HR departments are a hindrance to good employment...ticking boxes, reductionist and pseudo objective.

I would be more than happy for better recruitment practices like this, not just ticking boxes, to be more mainstream. So many good candidates get struck off because they don’t tick a certain box

I think most posters realise you're talking nonsense.

Speak for yourself, not others.

Are you aware how most people come to the civil service currently?

Yes.

Are you aware that MPs often advertise on their own blogs for staff?

Yes.

Are you aware how much movement within the civil service is limited to internal applicants?

Yes.

And atm employment law means you can be fired at will within a probationary period.

Yes.

I’m not sure how any of that means I am talking nonsense.

I would be more than happy for better recruitment practices like this, not just ticking boxes, to be more mainstream.

This is not “better”. It’s a way to ensure a powerful man can be surrounded by people who agree with him and can’t stand up to him.