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Our lives are imbued with rules and regulations, some of which are vital and sensible, but others are simply stupid. Natasha Hamilton-Hart maintains that time-wasting processes of compliance don’t improve anyone’s lives or wellbeing and burden companies and organizations with productivity-sapping paperwork. In these instances, she argues, we would be better off resorting to the exercise of authority, a concept we have become afraid of, but one that is a more efficient and transparent option for getting things done.
Navigating the rules maze and compliance culture that has proliferated over recent years, this book challenges us to consider just how ineffective stupid rules are in holding power to account, to improving service delivery, and even in managing the office dress code. The book is a must-read for anyone frustrated by the bureaucratic overload regulations create and for those needing to rethink their approach to management.
The replacement of individual judgement and discretion with administrative rules, which is pervasive across business, government and academia, fosters a culture of compliance that diminishes innovation, freedom and trust. Hamilton-Hart deftly uses intuitive concepts from economics, jurisprudence and organizational theory to make a provocative argument for authority, understood as the prudent use of judgement in an environment of accountability.
1. Rule proliferation and the loss of authority
2. Stupid rules in real life
3. Stupid rules in disguise
4. Autonomy
5. Rules: regulatory solutions and rule proliferation
6. Authority: why and when hierarchy works
7. Accountability: making authority work
8. Authority for a better world