The simplest explanation of any bureaucracy's behaviour is to assume it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
A satirical restatement of Pournelle's iron law rather than a causal claim. Its diagnostic value is as a test: if an organisation's behaviour looks deliberately self-defeating, look for whose interest it does serve.
In practice
- An agency whose stated purpose is to speed up planning has a process that adds nine months, and no individual within it wanted that.
- A quality department that slows every release enough to make quality worse would look identical whether it were captured or merely badly designed.
- Standing
- A satirical restatement of Pournelle's iron law, not a causal claim.
- Subject
- Organizations & Bureaucracy
- Essay
- The folklore of office life