ABSTRACT
In anthropological studies of the social and organizational life of humans, there is one theme which is present more than any other. It is a theme so thoroughly addressed that it might be reasonable to consider it one of anthropology's best documented empirical lessons; namely that plans rarely, if ever, unfold according to the vision of their initial makers, but instead lead to unexpected outcomes. This chapter provides empirical fuel for the debate on the role of the civil service and the effectiveness of government administration. Equipped with their time machines, the civil servants are not bound by the progression of real time with its simple ticking of the clock. They move effortlessly back and forth between numerous distorted futures and the present, all the time working on the construction of a sound decision. Positioning themselves in one particular distorted future, they observe and analyse their surroundings.
