Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bureaucracy
A
few years back, we had a friend named Max who was an art history graduate student at
Columbia. He had come to Siena to write his dissertation on medieval Sienese architecture.
To support himself during his research, he hired out as an art guide, mainly to visiting aca-
demics. Eventually the insanity of trying to live and work in Italy got the better of him, so
he picked himself up and went back to the States.
Before he left, however, he said something profoundly insightful that has comforted me in
times of trouble and frustration:
“The inefficiency of the Italian bureaucracy is the major force protecting the quality of life
in Italy.”
Not only am I convinced that he was absolutely right, but I believe I can now add a few im-
portant corollaries to his core insight based on personal experiences:
• In the ways work is organized, efficiency in rarely a significant consideration.
• Work is never re-engineered to improve throughput and time-to-completion.
• Goals and objectives are realized as soon as they can be, but no one ever skips
lunch, misses a vacation, work nights or rushes around in a way that might disturb
proper digestion.
• Delivery dates for completion are always stipulated, but this is a formality and no
one has any illusions about achieving deadlines.
• Any law that applies in any specific situation is only one of several, the majority of
which contradict one another.
• Laws are passed with the best of intentions, but their unintended consequences
make simple tasks impossible and challenge the citizenry to invent creative cir-
cumventions.
• In any large organization multiple departments have overlapping responsibilities,
duplicate record-keeping systems, and minimal interaction.
All of this makes for a relaxed work environment with minimal stress, regular cost overruns,
slipped dates and an irrational maze of regulations that make efficiency unthinkable. Hey,
you can't have it all…
Search WWH ::
Custom Search