Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Iron Law of Bureaucracy

Jerry Pournelle wrote it, and McCain & Co. love it.

"In any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions."

Examples abound.  But for the quick/easy lesson, look at any Government job description.  ANY of 'em.  The gibberish and technobabble is pervasive; references to more-of-the-same abound.  You will never find a low- or mid-level job description which is clear and simple, unlike private industry, which generally writes a description that says "this is what we want done, and here's what you need to do it."

(However, the larger the private organization, the more its descriptions resemble those of Government.)


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