I’m not Jack & Suzy’s biggest fan, but I could not agree more with their thoughts on bureaucracy:
…kick bureaucracy: At every chance, poke fun at anyone who tries to install process for process’s sake; rib people who get all puffy about their positions or titles. Make a scene when anyone says something hollow or phony to avoid contention. We’re not saying be cruel. We’re saying be relentless and outrageous. Make it so unpleasant for people to act rigid or formal that they physically recoil at just the thought of uttering: “That’s the way it’s always been done.”
And while you’re at it, make people uncomfortable—very uncomfortable—about scheduling formal presentations, especially if they involve slides in a darkened room. That practice is a total bureaucracy enabler. It makes idea-transfer so one-way and ceremonial! What you want instead is an organization where ideas flow freely up, down, and sideways, along halls, in elevators. A business where an idea’s value has nothing to do with the stripes on the shoulder of the person behind it and everything to do with their insight and creativity. So as you poke fun at bureaucrats for their more obvious transgressions, make sure you’re also building an organization where people who demonstrate an impassioned, boundaryless approach to ideas are both celebrated and rewarded. Love the people who hate presentations.
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Here’s the problem.
That which drives 90% of people in business is fear. Fear that competitors will sell more than you do. Fear that your boss will come storming into your cubicle and publicly embarrass you for a minor offense. Fear that one of your underlings is smarter than you and is out for your job.
Most businesses motivate employees through fear. Fear that they’ll lose their small salary but valuable health insurance if they underperform. Intimidation that beats down the souls of workers and actively discourages ideas, good and bad.
In the traditional model, those with the innovative ideas are the ones to be feared. These are the people that are passionate about their work, rather than coming to work for only a paycheck.
I agree completely with this article, but it’ll be a tough sell to the dinosaurs of business. Rather than save themselves, they’ll die a slow and painful death while the smaller and more agile companies will do things better.
James, fear now may be preferable to total meltdown later on. I sense that we’re entering a revolution in how business is done. Intense bureaucrats are too rigid to survive.