I’ve had a lot of work on this last couple of weeks.   A fair chunk of it as a customer.

My bank is asking me to re-give them some information they have had for at least 11 years;  my pension manager has asked me to give them information about dependents – but won’t use that information to update anything they already have, so now I have call them to check that myself;  I’ve had to chase to get a replacement pair of boots delivered and I’ve had to walk my own ‘last mile’ to pick up a parcel that got to my doorstep, but not beyond.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with do-it-yourself – where that makes my life easier.

We humans want agency.  We want to do things for ourselves.   What we don’t want is to get tangled up in the inefficient bureaucracy and busy-work that is clearly going in inside these major organisations.   Bureaucracy that’s happening because they’ve forgotten who they really serve.   The customer.

Do your own job guys, that’s what I pay you for.

 

 

PS If you want to know more about bureaucracy in modern times, read this book.   Watch the author’s summary here.