Donald Trump’s nominees for his key governmental appointments have stirred my imagination. Think about it.
If the Linda McMahon, head of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), moves to direct the US Department of Education, maybe a current leader in the education sector might be a great appointment as head of WWE.
With Elon Musk being considered to head some new (Non-Governmental) Department of Government Efficiency, might a leading expert in public administration, business administration, or even management be equipped to lead Tesla or SpaceX?
Dr Oz is being nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Mehmet Cengiz Öz is indeed famous as an American television personality, but less so as a physician, author, or professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University. He also ran unsuccessfully for a political office. But given his claim to fame as a TV personality, might the top administrators of CMS be hidden talent for TV presenter roles?
But as one thinks about this, a leader of the Department of Education might not have the expertise or talent to lead the WWE. S/he might not even know anything about wrestling or even like wrestling or know how to fake a punch.
Likewise, a leader in business or public administration might not know anything about manufacturing or aerospace engineering or what s/he needs to know to manufacture cars or launch space craft.
And so on … But as I thought about these creative appointments bringing new ideas into wrestling, space engineering, and medical care, it seemed doomed to failure.
I concluded, quickly, that this is a patently ridiculous idea. It would be a disaster, ironically, just as Trump’s appointments will most likely be disastrous for major institutions that contributed to making Americans leaders in the fields of education, space, and medical care.
Maybe we should not consider expertise or experience. Maybe it is all about being a celebrity and entertaining the public – sort of in the style of a three-ring circus. Undoubtedly, there would not be a day without some headlines from some celebrity Trump appointee. Is that what these appointments are all about?