We worked hard, but every time we began to function new plans or reorganization were initiated.
I learned later in life that we have a tendency to deal with any new situation by reorganizing. Also I learned what a wonderful method this is to give an illusion of progress while in reality it creates chaos, inefficiency and demoralization.
— Caius Petronius, Roman civil servant of Emperor Nero, died 66AD
It seems that two millennia ago the workforce was also perceived as widgets that will function within whatever structure is available. The truth is, if an organization needs to be “fixed”, changing the organizational chart creates “chaos, inefficiency, and demoralization” today as it did yesterday without a change to the working culture.
Ha! Love this quote. Every incoming new Administration political appointee should be required to read it and have it posted prominently in their office…