[February 3, 2017] Being recently retired from the Army has offered me a number of advantages; most useful among them is the strength of mind – developed over four decades – to navigate most bureaucracies without great aggravation.
Bureaucracies serve a useful function in their intended role to efficiently administer rules, regulations, and policies … and they have legitimately become an important element in society. But it can be burdensome, inefficient, and counterproductive and more often than not, seen as the opposite of innovation and creativity. The role of the leader is to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracies and to use them for their intent.
“NASA’s myriad failures are in many ways the natural consequence of a catastrophic combination of bureaucracy, monopoly, and calcifying aversion to the kind of risk necessary for innovation.” – Burt Rutan, American aerospace engineer
Having recently moved to another state in the North East United States, I’m presently working my way through a myriad of forms and procedures to obtain a simple gun permit. Since childhood, I’ve been around guns and been taught they are a tool to be used safely. As a retired Army officer I’ve found purchasing and owning a gun a rather simple task.
Following my original application I’m now required to get fingerprinted at a state-approved location about an hour from my home (I found the distance unusual). In completing yet more paperwork I was amused to find the gender question which asked if I was male, female, or both. Political correctness has now come to gun permitting.
Leaders will always be required to enforce the bureaucracy but they must first understand its purpose and function. If it stands in the way, it should be changed. There will be many who stand in the way of change – we call them bureaucrats – who believe the “system” is more important than its original intent.
The moral courage to make those changes is difficult to muster but is necessary and good leaders should not be distracted from making it easier for others to navigate the bureaucracy.
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