The Bureaucrat's Dodge

If a bureaucrat does not want to take a particular action, even if it is a direct order, he or she can:

• "Forget" about it (and hope that you will do the same);
• Misfile it;
• Claim that other priorities intervened;
• Assign it to a subcommittee for further study;
• Wait several months and then ask for clarification;
• Implement the parts they like and promise to do the rest later;
• Implement it so slowly that its completion date is far beyond the horizon;
• Keep changing the staff members who are responsible for the project;
• Implement it in an aggressive and abrasive manner that will spark opposition;
• Report that action has been taken even though it has not;
• Claim that they thought another office had responsibility;
• Swamp the decision maker(s) with trivia so it is unlikely that there will be time for monitoring;
• Report that the matter has been resolved via another program;
• Delay and then report that there are legal questions that need to be resolved; and/or
• Claim that they thought the order was really more of a suggestion.