Too Big to Succeed

I’m no fan of large organizations. They’re too bureaucratic, too unresponsive and too resistant to change, plus they tend to attract employees who are comfortable in that environment, which makes things even worse.

I saw this at Citigroup. Every January or February, senior management would roll out a corporate initiative designed to bring a renewed sense of urgency to the organization. It would be kicked off at “town halls,” and was followed by department staff meetings. We’d all receive the relevant materials, often a tree’s worth of paper that we were meant to study.

When I first arrived at Citi, I thought that—as a good employee—I ought to figure out how the new initiatives should be reflected in how I did my job. Longtime employees seemed bemused by such notions. Sure enough, within weeks, the new initiative was forgotten, and it was back to business as usual.

Decades ago, I remember a conference speaker observing that, when it came to organization size, Jesus had it right, limiting himself to 12 apostles. But of course, one of the 12 betrayed him, so maybe 12 is at least one too many.

Indeed, perhaps the optimum number of employees is one. I love working for myself. Even now, with my terminal diagnosis, I put in way too many hours, or so Elaine keeps telling me. But I’m passionate about what I do and, if I didn’t do it, who would? That’s the beauty and bane of being a one-man band.

This line of thought was inspired by reading comments posted to HumbleDollar’s Forum. With some regularity, readers decry how awful health-insurance companies are, or how inefficient the federal government is, or the ineptness of certain corporations.

As I read these comments, I wonder whether I’m seeing some political bias. Are some folks more inclined to denigrate government agencies, while others save their criticism for the private sector?

A digression: It’ll be interesting to watch the Trump administration’s efforts to improve government efficiency. If I had to guess, there will be massive but passive institutional resistance and, when the dust settles, the bureaucrats will still reign supreme.

To my mind, all organizations of any significant size are pretty much doomed to inefficiency. Am I wrong? Which companies continue to impress you with their ability to innovate and deliver good customer service, despite their burgeoning size?