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From working for 9 months for the Portuguese regional government developing a web-based platform for the covid task force, here is what I learned (good and bad, but mostly bad):
Small decisions take a lot of time.
Things we could create and test in a few days took *months* to decide.
Things we could create and test in a few days took *months* to decide.
Nobody wants to take responsibility.
If you ask a hard question by email, expect no answer. They may call you or tell you in person. Never in writing.
If you ask a hard question by email, expect no answer. They may call you or tell you in person. Never in writing.
User feedback:
They were used to inaction from IT.
Most of the things they were fretting about took us *minutes* to solve.
Instead, they scheduled these huge meetings for us to hear things that could have been explained *months* ago with a simple email.
They were used to inaction from IT.
Most of the things they were fretting about took us *minutes* to solve.
Instead, they scheduled these huge meetings for us to hear things that could have been explained *months* ago with a simple email.
Once I got a call about an email reporting an issue from 3 days ago.
We had already fixed the issue. 3 days ago.
We had already fixed the issue. 3 days ago.
Leadership expects you to keep quiet and fall in line.
This was probably the hardest part for me. Having to respect the chain of command when you clearly see things that could be improved quickly was not for me.
This was probably the hardest part for me. Having to respect the chain of command when you clearly see things that could be improved quickly was not for me.
Related: it was extremely hard for me to receive feedback from a field worker and having no autonomy to implement these. Some of the time I just went ahead and did it anyway.
I was stonewalled a lot.
I was stonewalled a lot.
Public workers are hard mostly workers.
They work and work and work.
They have little resources, no capacity to expand, which is specially hard under these circumstances.
The work schedules for some of these people were (and are) just impossible.
They work and work and work.
They have little resources, no capacity to expand, which is specially hard under these circumstances.
The work schedules for some of these people were (and are) just impossible.
Some of them were the nicest people, âweâre all in this togetherâ kind of people, a pleasure to work with.
Leadership is not used to someone questioning their authority.
I had nothing to lose (and proposed relinquishing my position many times), and that gave me leverage. I think I probably would not have been paid yet if it wasnât for that.
I had nothing to lose (and proposed relinquishing my position many times), and that gave me leverage. I think I probably would not have been paid yet if it wasnât for that.
Most leaders are quick to react to media.
After months of ignoring our warnings, some problems were suddenly acknowledged after media covering them.
After months of ignoring our warnings, some problems were suddenly acknowledged after media covering them.
Public ceremony and visibility is super important to some leaders.
Some were super enthusiastic when the president came to visit. They asked me if I wanted to be present. I couldnât have cared less.
Some were super enthusiastic when the president came to visit. They asked me if I wanted to be present. I couldnât have cared less.
Some leaders are keen on using anything as a political weapon.
As the local government had a different color from central one, the local gov president, when commanded to force the use of a contact-tracing app, reacted by saying to the press âwe already have oneâ. We did not.
As the local government had a different color from central one, the local gov president, when commanded to force the use of a contact-tracing app, reacted by saying to the press âwe already have oneâ. We did not.
Related: some leaders donât care about facts, only about perception.
Theyâre tired of being attacked (internally and externally) so they will use anything they can to defend themselves or to preemptively attack someone for points.
See previous tweet.
Theyâre tired of being attacked (internally and externally) so they will use anything they can to defend themselves or to preemptively attack someone for points.
See previous tweet.
Some leaders expect you to fall in line and be a good boy. 
When I questioned the government about this declaration, they told me, in all these letters:
âDonât meddle in politics, stick to your jobâ.
You probably can imagine how angry I was at them.
When I questioned the government about this declaration, they told me, in all these letters:
âDonât meddle in politics, stick to your jobâ.
You probably can imagine how angry I was at them.
It was very hard for me to see my teamâs work being used as a political weapon by the means of false declarations.
Arrogant. 
Some of them (not all, not even the majority, just some) think itâs a privilege to be working for the government, and they tend to treat you like a doormat. I lost the the count of the times I told them to f*** off.
Some of them (not all, not even the majority, just some) think itâs a privilege to be working for the government, and they tend to treat you like a doormat. I lost the the count of the times I told them to f*** off.
Some were very nice and courteous. Specially the more competent ones.
Some are just waiting to throw you under the bus.An public servant waited until a big debrief with the secretary to convey some less positive feedback about a potential problem on the platform.
It turned out it was a problem in the hardware this person was responsible for.
They live in a culture of blame.
Not improvement. Blame.
See previous tweet.
Not improvement. Blame.
See previous tweet.
Baptism of fire.They will not test your system.
They will test your system by releasing it to the public without proper testing.
Because they have someone to blame if things go wrong. You.
All this was such a contrast from working at startups and scaleups!Itâs a 20+ year gap that keeps on widening.
I had to let this out. Thank you for reading this.It was an interesting experience and I believe me and my team did a huge difference, but:
Me working for the public sector: NEVER AGAIN.
