We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
I know why...in their attempts at fair hiring practices, they actually made it easier for bad employees to fail upward. The end.
Go back to a merit system, rather than a hoop-jumping, time-in-rank/service system, and you will see better and smarter employees. Make it easier to fire bad ones, and you will see better government overall with less bureaucracy.
While Prof. Davies provides more insight and details, he's not very persuasive. This is the genius of Milton Friedman; he knew how to simplify and craft a narrative that actually persuaded.
In 2.5 minutes he explains what Davies takes half an hour to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RDMdc5r5z8