Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy

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Society and Politics: Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy
Posted by : bob on Tuesday, October 06, 2009 - 10:44 PM

Noted author Jerry Pournelle coined the following:

In any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

That sure describes what I've been seeing these days in many organizations, private and public.



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Sep 09, 2010 - 02:29 AM

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