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Many big modern organisations are built by bureaucrats whose specialisation it is to create more bureaucracy. Thus they spend a lot of time thinking up ways to
by kqr 4y ago
Many big modern organisations are built by bureaucrats whose specialisation it is to create more bureaucracy. Thus they spend a lot of time thinking up ways to measure the work performed from various angles, create reports for their superiors, and find other ways to ride on the work of others to earn their salary instead of doing actual work. This propagates downward and soon everyone (but perhaps the most junior contributors) is working in politics about meta-work, rather than doing the actual work.
It takes rebel managers to go "no, I won't participate in this seventh time allocation study" and instead do actual work to break the cycle.
- jiggawatts 4y agoPrecisely this. I've seen every size and type of organisation from single digit employee count up to tens of thousands in huge bureaucracies. Inevitably, the paperwork becomes the goal, and no amount of pleading with middle-managers will convince them that their job is unnecessary. If they were to believe us, they'd have to quit and become unemployed. Even in my relatively small consulting org I have to actively fight against the rising tide of overhead. Just recently I tried to explain to a manager that status reports are not the most important deliverable. That the actual product is, and reporting about it is secondary. They were aghast.
- kqr 4y agoEven more shocking: if the manager was active in implementation -- even just a small part -- they would only need a fraction as many status reports. They could just talk to the relevant people instead.
- mbrodersen 4y agoI strongly believe that you can dramatically improve the productivity of most companies by firing 50% of middle management and using the money to hire more people who actually work on the products/services the company is selling.
- Jensson 4y agoReally need a "clean communication" movement just like we have a "clean code" movement.
- kqr 4y agoI remember reading a thought experiment: after a fire drill when everyone is in the parking lot, the CEO can say, "Everyone who was in an actual call with a customer when the drill started can get back in. The rest of you stay out until someone dealing with a customer asks for your help." I imagine a lot of people in HR, marketing, and various other paper-shuffling positions have to stay in the parking lot for quite some time. Not to mention many executives!
- matwood 4y ago> I imagine a lot of people in HR, marketing, and various other paper-shuffling positions have to stay in the parking lot for quite some time. Not to mention many executives! Most of the IT people also...
- kqr 4y agoIn some organisations where many customer-facing employees are fairly IT literate, yup, definitely.