How bureaucratic is your organization?
Here is the ultimate test.
It’s fairly simple.
It’s based on the fact that bureaucracy is the triumph of the means over the end.
So, take the objectives of your organizations, of your department, or your personal objectives in the organization. What proportion of these objectives are about producing means, for keeping busy (for example, write a policy about… write 3 procedures about… produce one press release every so and so…)
Conversely, what proportion is about real results that matter to other people (clients, stakeholders). Like: increase satisfaction level by so many %, deliver under 3 days…
The proportion of objectives related to means is a good measure of how bureaucratic your organization is. Experience shows that it is generally fairly consistent across the organization, except maybe at the top.
Move! Make sure most of your own objectives are result-driven and that you’re left the choice of the means. And you know what? It’s much more fun!
