Many a man's weakness is his fondness for showing off his strength. In the soul of the bureaucratic machine there lurks a control freak. Employees are cogs in a highly regulated machine. Their work is broken down into different functions and described in great detail. Detailed rules and procedures specify behavior.
Inspectors check for compliance.
This model served us well in its day. As long as the tasks were relatively simple and straightforward and the environment stable, it worked. But for the last 20 years it has been coming apart. In a world of rapid change, technological revolution, global economic competition, demassified markets, an educated workforce, demanding customers, and severe fiscal restraints, centralized top-down monopolies are simply too slow, too unresponsive, and too incapable of change or innovation. To think and feel we are able, is often to be so.