Does each department seem to have its own agenda? Do some departments seem to put their agenda ahead of the overall organizational mission?

Are managers more driven to protect their unit, their people, and their budget, than they are to achieve the overall mission?

Is there obvious political infighting? Does it ever get in the way of departments working together smoothly?

Can ideas be killed because they come from the "wrong" person? Are some ideas supported just because they came from the "right" person?

Is overall productivity ever damaged by inter-unit rivalries?

Do people in some departments spend so much energy protecting their turf that they don't accomplish the work they are responsible for doing?

Does the work environment include large amounts of unhealthy stress?

Is there a tendency for the organization to grow top-heavy, as the operating units are too lean?

Are promotions ever made on the basis of politics rather than actual achievements on the job?

Are top executives so "protected" by their subordinates that they risk being dangerously insulated from what's happening on the "front lines" or in "the field?"

Is information hoarded or kept secret and used as the basis of power?

Is data used selectively, or distorted to make performance look better than it really is?

Are internal communications ever distorted to reflect what the organization wants to be, rather than what it really is? Are internal communications ever ignored or ridiculed by lower level employees?

Are mistakes, blunders, and failures ever denied, covered up, or ignored?

Does it ever happen that mistakes, blunders, or failures are blamed on others, or outsiders, or external factors like "the economy?"

Are decisions made by larger and larger groups, so no one can be held accountable?

Are decisions ever made based on the perceived desires of superiors, rather than concern for mission achievement?

Do policies, practices, and procedures tend to grow endlessly? Are employees required to follow them more and more rigidly?

Are senior managers ever so insulated from the realities of the front line that they may use out-of-date experiences in making decisions?

Are quantitative measurements favored over qualitative measurements? Does this ever drive people to 'make the numbers' without enough concern for product or service quality and customer satisfaction?

Are employees and customers ever treated more like numbers than people? Do personal and human needs ever seem to be discounted or ignored?

They blame top management, don't they?

That's entirely wrong. Top management is just as frustrated with all that garbage as you are. If it were their fault, how could I write down all of these symptoms on just one page of the book, Busting Bureaucracy? It's not them, it's the fault of the bureaucratic organizing model, and that can be changed!

Nobody at your place talks openly about these symptoms, do they? No, they don't. It would seem too much like an attack on the organization or top management, and that's not only dangerous, but it's wrong. They do, however, gripe about these symptoms privately, don't they?

It makes me so mad I want to spit! Everybody knows this stuff is there, and nobody is talking about it. If you don't talk about it, how can you fix it? And, it can be fixed! You don't have to keep putting up with all that stuff.

That's where this book comes in. It is designed to get dialogues started. Its goal is get people to understand you're all living with bureaucratic garbage that can be cleaned up.

If you have 8 or more of these symptoms, you need to buy this book, and pass it around. Or, better yet, buy 10 copies and get people talking about it.

Get some copies for senior management. Pass them around. As senior management understands that this stuff isn't their fault — yet they're getting blamed for it — they'll give somebody the ball and say, "fix it!" Maybe that will be you. Or, maybe if you give it to your boss, it'll be your boss.

This book is designed to get buy-in from everybody, and it also is a wonderful guide on what you can do to change things. Your customers, your employees, and your managers will all be happier, if you get rid of that stuff.

The reason that senior management doesn't fix this stuff is they've lived with it for so long they don't know that things can be different. This book shows the way. Solutions come in three different sizes, so you can pick the one that fits your organization best.

How can you pick the right solution
if you aren't talking about it?

You found your way to this website. You're the curious one. You're the one wondering if there could be a solution to too much bureaucracy.

The answer to your question is YES. There is a solution. This stuff can be changed. All it takes is buy-in from the people who see that there can be a better way.

You, you curious, smart web surfer, found the magic keywords that brought you to this book. So, you are the lucky one to get the ball rolling at your organization.

Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one that gets the credit for helping your organization become more customer focused, or quality aware? You've got the ball now. What are you going to do with it?

Who is Ken Johnston?

Dear Friend,

I was co-founder and CEO of Kaset International, the internationally-renowned customer relations improvement company. Our customers told us we were the most customer-focused company in our industry. I wrote Busting Bureaucracy before selling the company to Times-Mirror Corp. and retiring.

I previously worked for IBM for ten years, so I know what it's like to be within a big bureaucracy. At Kaset, I consulted for over 20 years with hundreds of organizations throughout the world. I know what organizations are like, and what they can be, when they want to be.

As a writer and speaker, I conducted dozens of corporate executive seminars, coaching, and training sessions where I gained the insights into organizations that I share with you in this book.

Strangely enough, after I retired, the publisher of Busting Bureaucracy (Business One Irwin) was acquired by one huge media organization, and then another, so all the people who edited the book and brought it to market were spread around like seeds. Even though the book had sold thousands and thousands of copies, even though it had been translated into four languages, the book dropped through the cracks and was taken out of print. (Even today, Amazon.com says it's out of print.)

Many people who had read the book needed more copies to build buy-in in their companies were furious. So, I bought all the rights to the book and the remaining copies, and I'm making it available to all those who need it.

Here is what you'll find in the book

Let me explain.

This book is written for employees at every level. Because of that you can get any unit, department, division, or enterprise to work together to reduce or eliminate the damage that bureaucracy and red tape does to customer satisfaction or product quality.

De-bureaucratization takes a team effort. This book is designed to build the team.

Organizational concepts are made easy to understand. The least experienced of your employees, managers or executives will understand step by step what is being done and why it is vital.

Do you wonder how you get whole teams on board when you want to improve customer satisfaction or product quality? Give them a common enemy that they all hate and will fight: Bureaucracy!

Your employees, managers, and executives don't leap out of bed driven by demands for more profits, or market share. They will leap out of bed more eagerly when you unite them in a common effort to stamp out the hated effects of red tape and bureaucracy.

Don't take my word for it.
Listen to what other readers have said.

I'm just a department manager, and I couldn't get my division head excited about ridding my department of bureaucracy. We were so wrapped up in red tape and wasted effort that we couldn't get our jobs done, and our customers were disgusted with us. I bought 28 copies of Busting Bureaucracy, and we held informal department meetings about how we could apply it to our department. We didn't say much about what we were doing to people outside of our unit, but we just got rid of the stuff that was getting in our way, and added some of the ideas the book suggested. In only 10 months, we've been able to double the throughput of our unit. We began to measure our customer satisfaction, and we've already driven it higher. People from other departments want to transfer to our department, and every other department manager wants to know what we are doing. (Name withheld by request) My boss gave 5 of us copies of the book and asked us to give him ideas on how we could cut down on bureaucracy. We had two job openings we weren't allowed to fill because of a hiring freeze, and we were all just struggling to keep up. So far, we've adopted only 6 of the suggestions in the book, and already we're staying ahead of the load. All of us are getting more done with fewer hours. Besides that, we're more of a team, and we like each other and our work better. I asked my boss if he wanted to sign this letter, and he told me I couldn't even use the company name. It turns out that only the public affairs office is authorized to speak for the company. (Does that give you some idea about the bureaucracy around here?) We just wanted you to know that your book was a lifesaver for us. Please send an autographed copy to our Vice-President. Maybe he will use it throughout our whole division. My former company was passing around copies of your book, while I was planning to start my own company. Everything you said about bureaucracy was true about my old company in spades. I vowed that I would run my company without any bureaucracy and we are organized based on the ultimate model you suggested. So far, so good. We're doing more business with fewer people than we had in our business plan. Our customers are raving to us about the level of our service. Thanks so much for the difference your book has made in my life and in my business. Fred DeMarco DeMarco and Greer, Inc. Dear Ken, Great stuff. I started with one copy that I passed around. Pretty soon everybody wanted one. Then my boss gave his to the VP, and he wants me to order one for everybody on the staff. Please send us 44 copies, and thanks from all of us. Phillip Costeau Denver, Colorado Dear Ken, Thanks for one heck of a great book. That story about the copy machines could have been our company. You really sound like you could have worked here. Tom Blankenship New York NY

Whether you download the book or not, if you're going to fight the corrosive effects of bureaucracy, you need to know these three crucial things:

1: Any effort to de-bureaucratize, whether it be a unit, department, division, or an entire company must have a roadmap accessible to everyone involved.

2: You can't leave de-bureaucratization up to consultants. You have to get involved, and get others involved. It has to be a team effort. The people who are going to live it, have to build it.

3: If you are going to reduce bureaucracy, you'll need lots of buy-in from a lot of people. Make sure you use a book or plan that helps build that buy-in.

If you didn't have this book available, you'd have to pay a consultant to create your plan and guide you step by step through it. This book, and the bargain price for multiple copies, makes it possible to save tens of thousands of dollars that consultants would cost. And, you wouldn't have nearly the buy-in this book will produce.

In summary, here's what you get:

You have your choice of a single copy of a hard copy signed by the author for $29, including shipping and handling in the U.S.

If $29 would require a purchase order in your organization, or is beyond your expense limit, there are a few old, used copies on sale at e-bay.com or Amazon.com, at bargain prices. If you buy from us, however, your copy will be signed by the author, and may be dedicated as you request.

If you need to create buy-in from lots of people, you have the option of sharing the link to either the condensed version, or the entire book, with co-workers. Spread the word.

If you have doubts read the forward. Or, look at the end of this letter for a list of excerpts from the book. Or, go to Amazon.com and read some portion of the book. We want you to feel perfectly secure in ordering as many copies as it will take to achieve the buy-in you need from the people in your unit, department, division or company.

Here's how to get your download right now!

To select a version: the condensed version in PDF,the full PDF version, or hard cover version of Busting Bureaucracy just click below.

To your success,

Kenneth B. Johnston, Author

P.S. The book was out of print before 2001. The original publisher was acquired by another publisher and that publisher was acquired, etc. In spite of selling many thousands of copies and being translated into four languages, it was in danger of disappearing. There are only a thousand or so remaining from the first edition, so act quickly before it becomes available only as an e-book or soft cover.

P.P.S. The book was brought back by popular demand. The book affected so many companies in such a powerful way that it was not allowed to die. Join with those fortunate organizations that are less bureaucratic today because of this book.

P.P.P.S. Only a limited number of copies remain that are signed by the author. If you want a special dedication, please fill in the order form under "comments," stating what you want the dedication to say.

P.P.P.P.S. If you're still not convinced, select any of the excerpts of the book — listed below — and read them.

P.P.P.P.P.S. As of March 31, 2007 I am offering the full and condensed versions of the book, at no charge.

Excerpts: What is Bureaucracy? | The Bureaucratic Organization | Breaucratic Management and Leadership | About Max Weber | Examples of Bureaucracy | Effects of Bureaucracy | Reducing or Banishing Bureaucracy | Alternatives to Bureaucracy | Other Negative By-products of Bureaucracy | Reduce or Eliminate the Negative Effects of Bureaucracy | Benefits of Bureaucracy

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. If you'd like to find a hard cover at Amazon.com, search for "Busting Bureaucracy."

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