Been there, done that. I spent my whole 35 year working career in private industry. Wood products, sawmills, paper, plywood, etc. Trust me, the same thinking permeates production mentality. I understand that there is a balance, but invariably, the engineering/maintenance types never become the plant managers. Only the production types. Run it 'till it breaks, then lay the blame on the engineers and millwrights.
As for government, the goal isn't a proper operation, or maintenance, or public service. The goal is for each and every "public servant" to reach that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: a retirement that never runs out of money and a gold-plated medical plan that completely pays for every drug and medical procedure, no matter the cost.
Bingo.
That's the rule, but every so often you get something you don't see too often: a "smart' company. Hewlett-Packard in its day was one of those rarities IMO. I worked with them for a couple of years in the early 90's. This was after its heyday with Bill and Dave at the controls but I still I loved it. They processed and process-controlled everything and the results were sustained quantity. From what I could tell PM was not an issue at HP.
+1. It is always the maintenance guys fault!