Rules Nazis

Last Blackberries of the year.  Oct 2014

Over the years, I have belonged to many organizations and have found that it is the lack of written rules or copies thereof that has caused me the biggest problems.   I love to read the rules and challenge the "Rule Nazi." when they try to enforce rules that don't exist.  One time I sat ion a Briefing at our Higher Headquarters.  The guy put up a slide labeled SECRET.  It was a map of the USA with the Russian embassy and all their Consulates.   Our question to the briefer went, "Is that Map classified Secret because we don't want them to know we know where these location are, or to keep them from knowing where they are?"  It sure as heck knocked the heck out of that briefing.  It turned out that it was just a part of a briefing that was classified and that slide should have not been SECRET.  

I was in the Army for three years and then went back to school.  My first job was in the Regional Office of the Chevrolet Division of General Motors.   My boss drove me crazy with his enforcement of little rules he knew and didn't share with me.   The thing that drove me completely over the edge was that he would write down things and tell me at least 90 days after they occurred.  I finally got in his face and told him what an ass he was for not sharing with me the rules or telling me when I broke them.  Needless to say, we never had a good relationship but I did stop the delayed feedback.  Had I read the Book, "On a Clear Day You Can See general Motors" I might have understood the crap he spouted.  

The worst thing we did in the Military was try to implement Total Quality Management or TQM.   I think that system might work well in a manufacturing process and a more controlled environment but the Military was just not the palace and when we tried to do it, it wasn't the time.  Instead of leaving the rules in place that Governed our actions, we threw out the bathwater with the baby and I am sure that it caused a lot of people to do what felt right rather than to obey the rules.  I am all for change when it costs less to change or it is a really good idea.  There are times when people would say that's a stupid idea but do it anyway.  There was always one guy that would say nothing but wouldn't change. 

Oh well, I had better go see what is happening here in Topeka today.  Two days in a row we have behaved like hermits.  The good news is we did have snack food stored up from a junk food run so no one starved. 



Swedish Ivy in its Fall Color


MUD