Once I had an interesting dispute at a meeting in the Government. One of the line ministries reported their plans to introduce the latest technologies in order to achieve their target – a twofold increase in labor productivity, that is, the same volume of production will be achieved by half the number of people.

     Another ministry responsible for employment did not agree with this, citing a threat to its indicators – a reduction in unemployment.

     So what is more important: technical progress → high labor productivity → more competitive products → increase in gross domestic product → enrichment of the country → improving the well-being of citizens or high employment → social stability.

     We agreed that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

     Swings, both to the right (liberal, capitalist approach), and to the left (the Labor, socialist approach) are dangerous for society.

     The art of management includes maneuvering between the extremes and choosing the right priorities in each specific time period.

     Here’s a relevant example: a person sitting in a boat with a hole in it should hurry and bail out the boat, so as not to drown right now, and row with oars to move forward and not to die of hunger tomorrow.

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