Fourth, bureaucrats are inclined to defend the status quo. Bureaucracy is a massive, multiplayer game in which millions of human beings compete for the prize of promotion. These are zero-sum battles. To advance, you must master the art of ducking blame, defending turf, managing up, hoarding resources, trading favors, negotiating targets, and escaping scrutiny. Anyone who’s spent years honing these skills is unlikely to be enthusiastic about a radical rule change.

Let us not pretend, though, that bureaucracy advances independent of human intention. The fuel that feeds the growth of bureaucracy is the quest for personal power. Power brings survival advantages, and we are wired to seek it. Having the power to direct your life is essential, but like the desire for food, alcohol, or sex, the lust for power can enslave us. That’s why philosophers and moral teachers so often warn us of its dangers.

Formal power is the currency of bureaucracy; it is the prize for which the game is played. Bureaucracy inflames our natural desire for power, sometimes to the point of caricature. As a result, bureaucracy often brings out the worst in people, whether it’s a minor functionary gleefully enforcing a petty rule, or a CEO getting an ego massage from a deferential underling. In other words, bureaucracy isn’t simply an organizational problem—it’s a human problem.

So, let’s face facts.

BUREAUCRACY IS FAMILIAR. You won’t have the courage to take on bureaucracy unless you believe there are alternatives. We must search out organizations that have successfully defied management orthodoxy.

BUREAUCRACY IS COMPLEX AND SYSTEMIC. Fragmented, half-hearted attempts won’t cut it. We need to replace the entire edifice of bureaucracy—one stone at a time.

BUREAUCRACY IS WELL DEFENDED. There will be resistance, so management rebels need to join forces. You have to build a grassroots movement that can overwhelm or route around the defenders of the status quo.

BUREAUCRACY SERVES A PURPOSE, HOWEVER POORLY. The goal is to carefully dismantle bureaucracy, not simply blow it up. You need a change strategy that is both audacious and prudent.

BUREAUCRACY IS SELF-REPLICATING. There will be no easy victories. Bureaucrats will fight back. To persevere, you’ll need a sense of purpose that’s as unshakable as the path is arduous.

If your worldview places a premium on human freedom and growth, you’ll regard the inhumanity of bureaucracy as intolerable and feel compelled to act. If, on the other hand, you regard human beings as factors of production, you’ll make excuses for bureaucracy and be content with minor reforms.