5 ms·

There seem to be at least three universal laws of bureaucracy: 1. it's easier to hire people than to fire people 2. more budget is better than less budget 3.

by manv1 4y ago

There seem to be at least three universal laws of bureaucracy: 1. it's easier to hire people than to fire people 2. more budget is better than less budget 3. performance is, for the most part, irrelevant as long as the process is followed These three simple laws can account for pretty much all the issues with bureaucracies in general.

paxys 4y ago
4. if you don't use up your budget you will lose it next year
- RajT88 4y ago
  I wonder what sort of structural change we'd see if there was executive level bounties for cost savings? For example: You get a bonus of 10% of whatever budget you manage to trim. You'd have to balance your greed against your desire to continue to have your organization function well.
  - margalabargala 4y ago
    That would look like the mass layoffs of the sorts of people whose job is general preventative maintenance, or who are employed at higher cost due to their knowledge. Generally the sorts of things that reduce short term costs immediately, while causing much larger pain in some not-right-now future. For real-life examples of this, see many private equity buyouts.
  - Analemma_ 4y ago
    That would be a disaster. People would earn those bonuses with things like cutting R&D, making people work more hours for the same pay, and neglecting maintenance/repair, which all show cost savings in the short term and run the organization into the ground in the long run. As attractive as it is to think there's a quick-and-easy solution here, there is not. It requires constant vigilance from quality leadership to fall into neither the trap of bloat nor the one of foolish cost-cutting.
bombcar 4y ago
“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” You need some sort of external pressure to keep it down, otherwise companies and organizations end up obese.
tester756 4y ago
laws or observations?

by manv1 4y ago

paxys 4y ago

4. if you don't use up your budget you will lose it next year

RajT88 4y ago
I wonder what sort of structural change we'd see if there was executive level bounties for cost savings? For example: You get a bonus of 10% of whatever budget you manage to trim. You'd have to balance your greed against your desire to continue to have your organization function well.
- margalabargala 4y ago
  That would look like the mass layoffs of the sorts of people whose job is general preventative maintenance, or who are employed at higher cost due to their knowledge. Generally the sorts of things that reduce short term costs immediately, while causing much larger pain in some not-right-now future. For real-life examples of this, see many private equity buyouts.
- Analemma_ 4y ago
  That would be a disaster. People would earn those bonuses with things like cutting R&D, making people work more hours for the same pay, and neglecting maintenance/repair, which all show cost savings in the short term and run the organization into the ground in the long run. As attractive as it is to think there's a quick-and-easy solution here, there is not. It requires constant vigilance from quality leadership to fall into neither the trap of bloat nor the one of foolish cost-cutting.

bombcar 4y ago

“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” You need some sort of external pressure to keep it down, otherwise companies and organizations end up obese.

tester756 4y ago

laws or observations?