efforts to update school
2. The Peter Principle:
curricula and involve parPeople keep advancing
ents in the process. And, of
until they attain positions
course, he claims considthey cannot fill competenterable success for various
ly and then stick there, neiaspects of the new health
ther improving nor getting
care system.
removed.
These ideas did not
3. Oligarchism: Buoriginate with Chopra or
reaucracies tend to make
with the Obama administraself-preservation the overtion. Chopra traces many of
riding priority, engenderthe initiatives to the work of
ing stiff resistance to any
a group that began meeting in the
attempts to streamline.
late 1980s, as a small number of
4. Olsonism: As renowned
well-placed individuals from across
economist Mancur Olson obthe political spectrum began meetserved, decision-making is often
ing informally to formulate ways to
inordinately influenced by feromake government both more efciously determined interest groups
Aneesh
ficient and more effective. James
insisting on certain relatively small
Chopra
Pinkerton, a member of the group, wrote
policies and resource allocations of great
a book, “What Comes Next” [1995], that
benefit to them.
summarized the group’s approach. Pinker5. Information Infarction: Bureauton identified five general impediments to
cratic decision-making fails because no
implementing innovation:
one in the bureaucracy can know all the
1. Parkinson’s Law: Work tends to
relevant information. In a top-down, hierexpand to fill the time and resources availarchical structure, there is little incentive
able, as organizations keep finding justifor people on the front line to present infications for more resources even when
formation that threatens the status quo.
their area of responsibility is shrinking.
When these people do learn new, relevant
Hence workforces grow even when the orinformation and pass it upward, the time it
ganizations’ responsibilities do not. (Partakes for the information to travel up the
kinson also noted that one reason for this
chain, be considered and generate direcis that people in a hierarchy seek to multitions is often too long to generate meanply subordinates, not potential rivals.)
ingful, timely benefits.
a na l y t i c s
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