Charles Goodsell Beating The System Summary
Comparative Book Review: Making the Case or Beating the System?
Charles T. Goodsell, The Case for Bureaucracy: A Public Administration Polemic (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004). 208 pp. $COST (paper), ISBN: 9781568029078.
Russell L. Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin, Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005). 175 pp. $COST (paper), ISBN:9781576753309. A system, by definition, is a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method. Complying with or attempting to beat such a system is a relentless choice. Do we, as constituents of the organizations, believe in the purpose of the system, understand the value, or engage in the process of establishing said systems. Our attitude toward these types of ruling bodies, institutional direction and governing frameworks helps adopt our trend to maintain the established systems or work to “fight the power”. …show more content…
Goodsell clearly notes that “a wide gap exists between bureaucracy’s reputation and its record. Despite endless rantings to the contrary, American bureaucracy does work – in fact, it works quite well” (p.4). In opposition to the basic framework Goodsell presents, Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin use their publication Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies (2005) to demonstrate the multiple ways our systems fail the average person and how to enforce “work-arounds” to guarantee a bureaucracy that isn’t in control. Both pieces offer a tremendous amount to consider, as it relates to bureaucratic systems that manage our way of
Charles T. Goodsell, The Case for Bureaucracy: A Public Administration Polemic (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004). 208 pp. $COST (paper), ISBN: 9781568029078.
Russell L. Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin, Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005). 175 pp. $COST (paper), ISBN:9781576753309. A system, by definition, is a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method. Complying with or attempting to beat such a system is a relentless choice. Do we, as constituents of the organizations, believe in the purpose of the system, understand the value, or engage in the process of establishing said systems. Our attitude toward these types of ruling bodies, institutional direction and governing frameworks helps adopt our trend to maintain the established systems or work to “fight the power”. …show more content…
Goodsell clearly notes that “a wide gap exists between bureaucracy’s reputation and its record. Despite endless rantings to the contrary, American bureaucracy does work – in fact, it works quite well” (p.4). In opposition to the basic framework Goodsell presents, Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin use their publication Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies (2005) to demonstrate the multiple ways our systems fail the average person and how to enforce “work-arounds” to guarantee a bureaucracy that isn’t in control. Both pieces offer a tremendous amount to consider, as it relates to bureaucratic systems that manage our way of