What is it like to work for a large company? Many of you have already begun generating that experience as you read the first line. A more interesting question might be, “How does a bureaucracy transform an individual capable of having choices that enable him to make decisions in a variety of contexts, into one for whom most decisions are made and choices are limited?” How does a King at home in his castle (or a Queen) become a pawn on the job? Bureaucratic organizations dangle the promise of “security” before your eyes in a variety of shapes and colors, in exchange for your autonomy (sort of a variation on the story, The Devil and Daniel Webster). They lure you with jargon like, “vested rights”, “paid holidays”, “retirement plans”, “health insurance packages”, and “vacation time”.
However, the phrase that is often not mentioned by many companies is, “job stability.” For the latter to occur, a person would have to feel free to generate choices concerning various aspects of his employment. But alas, this is too often not the case. Bureaucracies assume many forms. They can be large manufacturing companies which produce and sell finished products; or perhaps a company that buys companies that do so. They may not be companies per se at all! Sometimes they are departments in educational institutions; occasionally they are departments in department stores. Frequently, they occur as hospitals where “tape” is not only used to solve crises, but also, as a form–intentionally or otherwise–of creating them.
Consider some of the experiences others have had and compare them with your own. Can you imagine discovering water leaking into your office because of a worn pipe fitting, reporting that to a supervisor who then suggests you complete a “Work-Order” form for its repair…and submit it in triplicate? Furthermore, can you imagine that in order to obtain a “Work-Order” form in this particular company, you first must complete a “Request For Work Order” form? Suppose you were hired to perform a service for a given salary and one week after having learned various skills related to the position, your supervisor told you that: (a) Due to budgetary restrictions, your position has been reduced to part-time. Then two days later, you receive a call from another supervisor at 7:00 a.m. asking you to substitute on your day off because they are short-staffed! Finally, consider working for a large firm in which the principle activity is the creation of “work” such as the dissemination of a two-page memo to “all staff” (approximately 1500 people) on the “need to conserve paper”. Or consider the process of generating an idea such as, “management by objectives” (better termed, “management by crisis”) for which there must be several meetings, designated committees and postponed actions before anything gets done. Whew! Some people find it distressing being lost in the semantic jungle of a large company. In the Chess game of “big business”, the shape of the board is determined by those who administrate to its players. Your moves are limited by the degrees of freedom allocated to you. As a pawn, your limitations are obvious. Less than obvious is how to change the type of player you are and its “moves.” Be sure to have all your pieces ready to play when a useful strategy for achieving this outcome is discussed next time.