Subterfuge at work, a fun subject to study.
Some of my favorites from a declassified WWII "simple productivity sabotage" manual:
-
Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
-
Make "speeches." Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your "points" by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
-
When possible, refer all matters to committees, for "further study and consideration." Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
-
Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
-
Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
-
Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
-
Advocate "caution." Be "reasonable" and urge your fellow-conferees to be "reasonable"and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.
When I first saw these I was like goddamn, psyops got to my executive director!
It's not that we're uninformed, it's that we disagree.