William James’s THE ACCIDENTAL EXECUTIVE: Finding Purpose in Public Service is a memoir in which James details his career in industry and, later, the civil service. The latter culminated in a senior position in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, a post he held during the latter part of the first Trump administration. James is a keen believer in what he calls “the transformative power of service,” and there can be no doubt that placing oneself at the disposal of the civil service, as James did, can be meaningful at both the level of one’s own sense of usefulness and the governmental machinery itself. Before the Senior Executive Service beckoned, James worked his way up the ranks. He enjoyed, for example, a stint at the Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center in the 1980s, and moving—perhaps accidentally, as the book’s title might have it—into management after many successful years as a technical expert whose mathematical prowess fitted him for work on digital mapping. At the time, that was a new field that would transform both the civilian and defense sectors. While there is much emphasis here on James’s recollections and experiences, so too does he draw attention to takeaways revolving around career progression and sound management techniques. The writing style is for the most part straightforward and businesslike, though at times James segues into triteness (“Come walk with me through the halls of government and the corridors of industry…”).
A tension does seem to arise from the book’s unspoken double purpose. Described by the author as a memoir, the book is really focused on James’s work and very little else. While much space is devoted to the formative relationship the author had with his father (who encouraged a love of math and a “can-do” attitude), wider commentaries on, say, the demands of marriage and family life, and how they conflict with work assignments, are thin on the ground. Later parts of the book, during which James expounds on the machinations of veterans’ affairs in Washington, will doubtless be of more interest to policy wonks than to the general reader, for whom the relative lack of social context may stand out more. But as a tribute to public service, THE ACCIDENTAL EXECUTIVE is both relatable and highly readable.
William James’s THE ACCIDENTAL EXECUTIVE: Finding Purpose in Public Service offers insights on the changing nature of service and advice on how best to make a difference as a public servant.
~Craig Jones for IndieReader