For start-ups, the highest priority is rapid iteration, technology-driven disruption, and financial returns for investors. Their success often hinges on solving a narrowly defined problem with a single product or within a single organisation.
Around the world, governments are trying to reinvent themselves in the image of business. Elon Musk’s Doge crusade in the US is quite explicit on this point, as is Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding president, Javier Milei. But one also hears similar rhetoric in the UK, where Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden wants the government to foster a “test-and-learn” culture and move toward performance-based management.
The problem is that governments and businesses serve vastly different purposes. If public policymakers start mimicking business founders, they will undermine their ability to address complex societal challenges.
