Chapter Summary
Chapter 16, "Make-works and take-credits," examines the phenomenon of problems that are generated by the very institutions or individuals ostensibly designed to solve them. Through the satirical example of a bureaucratic memorandum regarding the "utilization of commas," the authors illustrate how administrative structures often create "make-work" that impedes actual productivity. The text explores the self-perpetuating nature of organizations, such as international conferences and charities, arguing that problem solvers often maintain problems to preserve their own status and comfort. The chapter distinguishes between those who do the work and those who create work or take credit, offering a strategic method for the former to neutralize the interference of the latter. Ultimately, the chapter teaches that the source of a problem is often the problem creator themselves, and the most effective solution is to reflect the busywork back to its originator.
The Bureaucracy of "Nothing" The chapter begins by shifting focus from face-to-face interactions (like the visa officer in the previous chapter) to the impersonal, paper-laden world of institutional bureaucracy. The authors introduce a specific class of problems that "come clad in writing," specifically in the form of the office memorandum.
To illustrate this, the text presents a satirical memo from "His Eminence, The Dean" addressed to "All Staff and Ships at Sea." The subject is the "Utilization of Commas in Weekly Punctuation Reports". The memo outlines a convoluted, non-existent problem: the staff's inability to distinguish between commas used for punctuation and commas used to report on punctuation. The Dean proposes a ludicrously complex solution involving single and double quotation marks and the appointment of a "Committee on Commas" to work out the details. The memo concludes with a call for "feedback" and "creative and innovative ideas," a classic hallmark of administrative busywork designed to look like productivity.
The authors use this example to highlight a specific type of organizational pathology: a vast circulation of activity, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". When a problem solver encounters this, they must ask the recurring diagnostic question: "Where does the problem come from?". In cases like the comma memo, the answer is often that the problem comes from nowhere—or, more accurately, it comes from the problem-solving institution itself.
The Self-Perpetuating Problem Solver The authors expand this concept from office memos to global geopolitics to show the scale of the issue. They recount observing an International Disarmament Conference in Geneva. They speculate on why such problems—like disarmament—seem so intractable. The text suggests that the problem might be the attractiveness of the conference lifestyle itself.
The authors contrast the lifestyle of the "problem solvers" (the diplomats) with the reality of the problem. They ask rhetorical questions about the incentives involved:
While clarifying that they do not demean the work of diplomats, the authors point out the inherent risk that a "problem-solving process, person, or institution" can become the problem itself. This leads to a twist on a radical slogan from the past. Rather than "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," the authors posit: "If you're part of today's solution, then you're part of tomorrow's problem".
Institutional Survival Instincts The text provides historical context for this theory. History is full of problem-solving institutions that did not dissolve once their original problem was solved. Instead of "packing their formal wear" and going home, these institutions simply sought out new problems to justify their continued existence.
Two examples are provided:
The conclusion is a cynical but practical observation of organizational hierarchy: "In the valley of the problem solvers, the problem creator is King, or President, or Dean". The ultimate source of the problem is often the person at the top who needs a problem to preside over.
The Taxonomy of Workers: Make-Works and Take-Credits To navigate this environment, the authors invoke "grandfatherly wisdom" to categorize the people within an organization.
The authors explain that in previous generations, avoiding these "make-workers" was easier. Physical separation was a valid strategy. Administrators could be sequestered in "elegantly decorated offices" on the top floor of a tower (like bees to a pansy patch or flies to a dung heap), leaving the actual workers in the basement to get things done.
However, the authors note that technology has ruined this defense mechanism. In the age of "xerography" (photocopying), physical separation no longer stops the flow of busywork. "Any fool with the key to the copier can become a widely-read author," meaning the make-work memos can now penetrate the basement walls.
The Strategic Solution: The Feedback Loop Since physical avoidance is impossible in the modern era, the authors propose a tactical method for dealing with the "Utilization of Commas" type of problem. The strategy involves reflecting the problem back to its source, forcing the "make-worker" to do the actual work.
The recommended process is as follows:
The Outcome The logic behind this strategy is that it keeps the "problem" circulating in the administrative sphere without consuming the worker's time or resources. By constantly bouncing the issue back with enthusiastic but vague requests for discussion ("What about semicolons?"), the worker gives "all the credit to the dean" but avoids doing the useless work.
The authors claim that with a little imagination, a worker can free up significant time (one month per memo) from administrative interference. Importantly, the "make-workers" will not realize they are being managed; in fact, because their "fascinating concepts" are being acknowledged, they will "love every minute of it". The chapter concludes that this method allows the worker to survive in an environment where the problem creator is king.