Prague - The new Czech government is composed of people from two entirely different worlds, said Czech sociologist Jaroslav Sykora, an internationally renowned expert on team dynamics.
Some of the ministers are successful senior managers, known for handling their companies in a rather autocratic fashion. These ministers are used to have the last word in everything, but also to face the consequences of their decisions.
The other group of ministers are professional politicians, well used to the world of parliamentary politics, often marred by painful compromises, lengthy negotiations, and broken promises.
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"It is a quite disparate group, indeed. These two entirely different 'worlds' will have a hard time getting along with each other... For example, new Finance Minister Andrej Babis's work style is defined by strict management. Otherwise, his Agrofert would never prosper."
Andrej Babis is owner of Agrofert, a major food and agriculture holding, and one of the richest people in the Czech Republic. His recently founded ANO 2011 party came in second in the October 2013 early election.
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However, Sykora says that these two world can still coexist. "The minister/managers will have to adjust the strict economic decision-making they have been used to until now. In other words, they will have to take into account how their decisions affect people's lives. They did not need to care before. They focused only on the profits of their companies, nothing else was important... They will have to unlearn this work style very quickly."
On the other hand, the political ministers will have to make some adjustments too. Most importantly, they will have to learn to spend taxpayer money more wisely and effectively. "Especially in this sense, they can learn a lot from the 'other world,'" said Sykora.
However, Babis's statement that the state should be run as a private company is not true. "With all due respect, Mr Babis is wrong on that," said Sykora.
The new government will have to find a middle way between the managerial and the political style of ruling. If it fails, the government will not survive very long, said Sykora, whose long-term investigation of team behavior has been recently included into the European Union's project to prepare a mission to Mars.
