A purely Russian paradox: there are many talents, but the future is hopeless

Dmitry Prokofiyev, economist

We discussed the situation with the management of the Russian economy with a colleague, and this is what we came to the conclusion (somewhat unexpected)

There are a lot of good officials in Russia

Competent, disciplined, true "model bureaucrats" who do their job very professionally. And by the way, absolutely not corrupt. They get quite decent content, and do their job very well.

There is one "but". These officials do not know (or are not interested in) the realities of the Russian economy and business (and generally have little idea of how people live and how they live). They exist in some ideal regular realm, where people carry out government orders with the precision and speed of automata. And if a person fits into the state track, then everything will be fine with him. And if not, then everything is bad.

There are a lot of good entrepreneurs in Russia

Real sharks of capitalism, "merchants", hucksters in the good sense of the word, people who see profit literally in the air. And give them free rein - they will do everything.

There is one "but". These capitalists are like conquistadors, conquerors of colonies from about the sixteenth century, for whom both people and territories are just tools for making profit, and you can leave a scorched field behind. For them, everything that moves and does not move is only resources. And God forbid you become a "resource" for them.

There are no "people", "land", "future" for either one or the other. There is only "perfect now".

Here's how to find them some kind of conjugation point, so that the unconditional talents of both of them can be "directed for good."

There are a lot of good managers in Russia

To the question of the specifics of Russian bosses, a respected reader sent an extremely interesting addition:

Indeed, very good ideas. But I would add a third group there, which is always forgotten. There is some joke in this, but only a fraction.

As a person who has been a typical hired manager for exactly such business sharks of various sizes for about 15 years, I authoritatively declare that managers and managers like me are not just an appendage to an intelligent huckster.

We are the real third group in this world of projects and initiatives. Let it be less noticeable, but often more professional (yes, yes, we work in the fields and then we report for the huckster to officials and investors).

And we also have a fundamental problem: if smart business and smart officials could find the harmony that you described in the post, then we wouldn’t have to treat projects and people as consumables or just faceless numbers (which can stand and real improvements in people's lives, and the people themselves in the end...).