Bureaucracy kills productivity. Professionalism gags communication.
A World that’s forgotten trust & common sense.
Our oh so sophisticated society seems to have itself on a lead, strung with regulation, red tape, rules and rigorous procedure. From towering pyramids of hierarchy, trust for the fellow human has been lost on the climb. People on the top now too far from the leg work, to understand the challenges of the manual effort. Management managing management managing people. High level decisions sending aches of tension to the masses, rippled from a point on a graph, thoughtless of the replaceable pawns. And so the lead grip is tightened by yet another piece of formulated bureaucracy; keeping the sheep in their pen. How high up the ladder must you climb, before your ego forgets empathy for the bottom. Big hierarchical businesses look to lack trust for the fellow human. Regulation and fences must seem safer than trust. Trust takes time to nurture and grow; far easier to mark a boundary backed by the infamous foreign language of the law.
Bureaucracy exists to dodge problems, not deal with them. Despite it’s hideous ability to waste our time, the reality is, it’s more of a shortcut. Each form, rule, law or contract simply avoids the necessity to actually deal with the problem at hand. Someone steals, let’s all agree that doing so, the repercussion is punishment, rather than even considering why that person is stealing. Or someone has a job to do, let’s create an exact formula that they have no chance of failure, but if they do, it’s hell to pay. It’s a cheap plaster of jurisdiction, to a gaping wound of society. Each a piece the ever towering legislative house of card; a stack of evidence to unresolved cultural defects.
Tick the box. It’s just how it is. That’s our policy. I’ll be fired if I let you.
How many times have you felt the infuriation of a company holding back someone’s better judgment and common sense?
This system has become broken because we forget there are other ways. Better methods to organize teams that rely on motivation, trust, honesty and transparency. It doesn’t take piles of paperwork to provide disaster aid, to hold moneyless gatherings or to start an occupy movement; self organization is the key, and reciprocated trust. Our faith in each other has been lost through this illusion of separation; we forget that I am another you, and you are another me.
Incase this looks like some far out utopian vision, look again. Many organisations have taken roots in self management; W. L. Gore, Whole Foods, Wikipedia, Patagonia and Buurtzorg are just a few big ones. If you are curious this article will help:
and a leading book called Reinventing Organisations.
Professionalism, in language and behavior, seems to be a habit echoed out of corporate business. It can be a way of speaking that gives an impression of experience and intelligence. It can be politeness and etiquette. Sometimes it’s based in customer service; where the treatment of another person is conjured from a place of false kindness, a forced smile and dishonest pleasure at dealing with a hard job. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we hiding behind this mask of fear from being ourselves? Have we lost a part of our honestly through the business practices of hiding the truth?
The further our communication moves from the truth, the less meaning words hold.
Most people know a good relationship relies on clear and honest communication. So why do we treat people who are paying us so very differently. We deny others the chance to feel who we really are, by hiding our true selves. We deny the opportunity for deeper connection masked by the kind regards and best wishes.
I dare you to write an email the way you would talk to a close friend. Straight up honestly, clear communication, brutal truth, feelings and emotions, bow tied with a genuine warm, or even cold, signature. It’s liberating. Being true feels good.
Imagine a World that trusted each other first, not second. Workplaces that you felt empowered, not regulated. A society where creating an organisation to solve a problem isn’t drowned in legal paperwork, archaic formal traditions and ink based ceremonies before you can do anything useful. Imagine a World where we speak honestly to one another. Where we say what we mean and feel, providing the important nuance translation of why we might be saying or acting in certain ways. Conversations that shed the costume of professionalism, and allow for deeper connection through raw and real communication.
Perhaps letting go of these habits will allow us to see deeper into ourselves and understand each other better.
A World where trust is embraced before regulation.
Where confidence is instilled, not doubted.
Where common sense comes before procedure.
