Friends, I’ve just spent 4.5 hours trying to resolve an issue of minute importance in the overall scheme of things. An issue that is so clearly resolvable in my mind with recourse to common sense that it should have taken minutes to fix. Half a day later, the issue remains unresolved. Why? “Because the manual doesn’t provide for that”.
Well, the manual was written by someone absent of context and not possessing an ability ab initio to think through all angles. I will now spend another few hours (at least) writing letters and making calls to get someone (likely in the senior executive suite – perhaps even at Board level) to think about the problem the right way. In so doing, I will waste more of my time and theirs on the issue. Rest assured, the issue will ultimately be fixed, but at what cost? How often this must happen to you all, and how frustrating it is.
Mindless bureaucracy gobsmacks me – yet it is to be found everywhere. Wasted time, wasted activity, unthinking activity…yadda yadda yadda. How many passwords do you now have for banking and internet access? When was the last time that you called a “help” line and found help? When last did you find a person who took ownership of an issue rather than passing the buck? “Not my problem”, or, “Not my role to find a solution”. Such thinking is all too familiar.
Oftentimes, there is little that a dose of common sense would not resolve, but nary an apothecary to dispense such sense exists in most organisations. Those at the top of the tree often kid themselves that “processes” and “systems” are in place to ensure “procedural fairness and equity”. Poppycock. Such thinking is too frequently an excuse for inaction. Lazy, slothful, inexcusable, inaction.
Dr Ken Henry, Treasury Secretary for the Australian Government, recently went on record as saying that dealing with government departments has become too complex and needs to be simplified. Hole in one Henry! Let’s hope this means that the tax system is about to get a whole lot simpler come December…
In any event, Dr Henry has it right. Here’s a suggestion: have any organisation of size create a new role of “Chief of Common Sense” and let them act as mediator to connect the disconnected dots that (should) lead to simple, rational, logical and effective outcomes. Billions of dollars will be saved – daily. I’m hoping that Scott Adams reads my blog and does a Dilbert on this issue. I’d like Dogbert’s take on it…
September 23, 2009 at 3:31 pm |
Hi Richard,
You must be very frustrated with whatever you were trying to do… Actually sometimes when I come across these situations along with frustration it brings smile (laugh)…. The key here (as I previously mentioned in my email to you about my experience) is to “put yourself you others shoes and think what can you do to make it better”… but people and moreover so called professionals forget to try that more often.
My most recent encounter with a mobile phone company that had may be 10 different departments for sales, customer service, billing, loyalty, cancellations, customer relations, delivery and the list goes on and on but all they could do is pass the buck by saying oh… sorry but I am gonna have transfer you to XYZ department. At the end customer get frustrated and hang the phone…
I guess it appropriate time to either re-define meaning of “Customer Service Departments” or changing the name to “Customer Harassment Departments”.
On the Public Sector bureaucracy note, I would like to add that I guess it’s time when instead of waiting millions of dollars on these different useless departments the corporations and some governments need to think and work “smart than hard” and adopt “single window” approach like some developing countries.
I mean its IT age and if you can get answer to literally any question on google why can’t a corporation find solution to customer problems and solve it instead of transferring from here to there…(time to use Knowledge Management Techniques)…
Prem
September 24, 2009 at 10:45 am |
I don’t know If I said it already but …Great site…keep up the good work.
I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks, 
A definite great read..Tony Brown
September 27, 2009 at 4:34 am |
Some people rather stick with the red tape than making change. Not sure if they’re lazy or scary to change, but they really don’t mind wasting time on complicated and reduntant workflow. Weird.
Dianne