Rules create uncertainty pockets exploited by gatekeepers, spawning more rules.
Crozier's 1964 study of French bureaucracy. Rules eliminate discretion everywhere except the gaps, which become sources of power for whoever occupies them — and the response is always more rules.
In practice
- A procurement rule removes discretion everywhere except in categorising an item, so the person who categorises becomes the most powerful in the process.
- An expenses policy with one ambiguous clause makes the finance clerk who interprets it the effective decision-maker, and the response is a longer policy.