Well, the rub of that quote (seen in isolation at least) is that it's still less stupid. I think with stuff like this, you can make an earnest attempt to under

Well, the rub of that quote (seen in isolation at least) is that it's still less stupid. I think with stuff like this, you can make an earnest attempt to understand why it's necessary, but it's on them to, if not convince you, at least convince you that they have reasons to believe it's necessary. Everybody has their role to play, and these people are at least ostensibly hired so that you don't have to waste your energy understanding and problem solving certain things like compliance, process, etc. But as someone who's worked in admin for some very flat organisations, i.e., organisations with allergies to beaurocratic procedure, I've always seen it as important that the people subjected to my next brainchild at least have a feeling that I know what I'm doing. I haven't seen the email thread, but failing to do that and responding negatively is a failing on their part. That said, admin can feel like hearding cats nost days, and sometimes a "polite enquiry into the necessity of a procedure" isn't just a polite request for clarification, but a threat to make the next 6 months of your work a living hell because people refuse to follow something you need to get your work done. So I guess the prescription in those cases is cognitive empathy and finding the right tone. On both sides.