This cannot be emphasized or repeated enough. Before the acquisition, Boeing was led and run by engineers. After the acquisition, MBAs and Finance people were put in charge.
This happens at all large companies, eventually, and itβs why they all inevitably shit the bed. Itβs just in this case, itβs killing a lot of people in the process.
Loved that novel; it was one of the first Discworld books I read. And Pratchett had a great way of representing the fundamental truths of governments of whatever structure, except that we should be so lucky to have as brilliant (and, perhaps ironically, benevolent in that he mainly just wants things to function smoothly, despite his Machiavellian ethics) a statesman as The Patrician in charge.
Gods I love Going Postal. I remember reading it when I was much younger (almost two decades ago) and loving it, but had forgotten enough of it that it almost felt new during my current reread of the Discworld series. Now Iβm on Making Money and itβs just as good.
People seem to hate the concept of enshittification for some reason, but itβs a perfect encapsulation of the modern economy. Things that were once good are abused to extract wealth for shareholders. That is their only purpose. As far as the board of directors at Boeing are concerned, if they narrowly miss an accident they donβt have to report and it nets them an additional $1 million, then all the better. High quality engineering, the collaboration of engineers and machinists, and especially safety are only valuable insofar as they make more money. And theyβll be damned if they leave any money on the table to avoid a plane breaking up mid-air, killing everybody.
People seem to hate the concept of enshittification for some reason
Probably because it makes everything more shitty for everyone but the shareholders. I donβt believe that CEOβs like knowing that that everybody hates what theyβre doing: their customers hate them, their employees hate them, and they know it. But Iβd they donβt satisfy the shareholders, they get fired - just as you say.
The infuriating thing is that it isnβt about profit; itβs about maximizing profit. Companies can be profitable without enshittification. Itβs the sin of gluttony that drives profit maximization, and the best thing these people can hope for is that the atheists are right and there is no heaven, because theyβre for sure going to hell for bald-faced greed.
