Why isn't Bond good enough...

Ammo08

....to run MI6? It seems to me that you would want an experienced field agent to be running things...

Barbel

He never reaches the age that would take him out of field work.

Brosnan_fan

I somehow get the feeling he has a bit of disdain for the bureaucratic side of his work....

Number24

If he was head of MI6 Bond would have full control of the expense account ....

Peppermill

Barbel wrote:

He never reaches the age that would take him out of field work.

Well.... Roger Moore might have been the exeption )

Charmed & Dangerous

The hiring policy would quickly degenerate as "best person for the job" would become "most nubile young lady in the immediate vicinity ..." )

Barbel

Peppermill wrote:

Barbel wrote:

He never reaches the age that would take him out of field work.

Well.... Roger Moore might have been the exeption )

Not to mention David Niven- who DOES take over!

AlphaOmegaSin

Flemings Bond would hate the tedious Paper Work -{

David Schofield

Gardner was punting Bond in that direction with Micro Globe One and the imminent retirement of Messervy-M.

Also had Bond looking set to marry again.

Like a lot of things, Gardner lost his nerve on both. Though one wonders if there might have been a bit of arm twisting from Glidrose with an eye to the future....

AlphaOmegaSin

I believe that Gardner did have one more Novel planned after COLD.

Gassy Man

M is an administrator while Bond is a technician. Promoting a technician into an administrative position often does not work -- just because someone can do the work doesn't mean they have the temperament to be management. The Bond films have shown consistently that Bond does not have a fondness for regulations that get in the way of getting the job done. That wouldn't make him a very good administrator. In addition, as the Judi Dench films do a good job of showing, the administrator has to deal with much more than just drafting assignments . . .he or she must also be a disciplinarian, budget miser, political animal, and mindful tactician.

Blackleiter

Gassy Man wrote:

In addition, as the Judi Dench films do a good job of showing, the administrator has to deal with much more than just drafting assignments . . .he or she must also be a disciplinarian, budget miser, political animal, and mindful tactician.

Exactly! None of which seems to be Bond's forte! )

Ammo08

I think it would have made a good story arch with Bond suddenly realizing what his antics did to others and maybe having to supervise someone even crazier than him..

One thing I loved about Judi Dench's M was that she not only called him down about things, she pointed out what his actions did to others.

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

Gassy Man wrote:

In addition, as the Judi Dench films do a good job of showing, the administrator has to deal with much more than just drafting assignments . . .he or she must also be a disciplinarian, budget miser, political animal, and mindful tactician.

Exactly! None of which seems to be Bond's forte! )

I feel that Bond CAN do any and all of that at will. As a chameleon in the spy world, he could be a dishwasher at Wimpy or the CEO of a major international company. For a mission.
The thing is, heading MI6 would be, like, a sort of PERMANENT thing. To Bond, there IS no permanence.
Bond is a sports car to be driven hard, not parked in a garage.

superado

I don't agree with the mindset that the ultimate expression of honor or fulfillment is a character's is their promotion to some utmost status or position, like Tom Clancy's main character, President Jack Ryan and in the Bond universe, it's more typically calls for a Bond actor or Bond himself getting knighted (the thought didn't appeal to Bond).