Spitting Into The Bureaucratic Wind

Now you know I try to be a positive thinking guy, but do you mind if I complain a little bit about bureaucracy? No? I didn’t think so. Most people don’t mind. However, most people agree that it is useless. Why is that?

Bureaucrats don’t play by the rules. Well not by the rules the rest of the world plays by, and certainly not the rules of most other businesses. Bureaucrats have their own rules, for their own reasons. Unless we can define and change these rules they may go on forever, or at least until bureaucracies come crashing down under the weight of their own outdated system.

Notice I said bureaucracy was outdated. That actually implies that at one time it served a timely purpose. It did. It was a reform movement to correct horrible abuses. But its time is past. Its purpose is to perpetuate itself, like the shark in Jaws who lived only to swim, eat and make little sharks. Part of the solution is to redefine its purpose.

The purpose of business is to make a profit. It appears to me that the purpose of bureaucracy is to survive and grow larger, if possible. Bureaucrats measure success in larger budgets, larger gross revenues without the need to show profit. Secondarily bureaucrats value bodies, the more people working in your agency the better, regardless of need or efficiency. But budgets always trump bodies. Whoever has the bigger budget is the more important bureaucrat. Efficiency and frugality are not valued for their own sake as they are in business, because there is no profit motive.

Performance must become our goal, performance not profit. There is a growing movement among some local and state branches of government called “citistat” or “statestat” (now being attempted in Maryland) that does just that by rewarding agencies that can statistically show improved performance. This first came to prominence in the reformation of the NYC police department in the 1990s called CompStat.

I also believe that, on a personal level, an attitude of respect, helping and growing is essential.

I have one other complaint today. The lack of a flatter organization. The whole world has accepted the 21^st century need for flatter organizations. Flatter means managers are responsible for more people directly, eliminating the many levels of sometimes needless middle management found in bureaucracies. Even the largest multinational businesses have accepted this model as more efficient and frugal, so why are bureaucracies any different. Actually, in many instances, bureaucracies are becoming taller, not flatter, due to a reduced number of workers. Managers have fewer direct reports because of attrition, yet no management levels are being eliminated. Why? Deniability, lack of responsibility. With all those levels, it is always easy to pass the buck up or down and no one ever has to be totally responsible for anything. It’s worked great for 100 years, why change it now?

It is a recipe for disaster, and I honestly believe a disaster is inevitable unless taxpayers, legislators, workers and unions see the tsunami coming and change course. There are alternatives out there, we need to try and find more. Bureaucracy will fall and it would be good to have a 21^st century system in place before it does.