QUOTE(dtobias @ Tue 5th May 2009, 4:56am)
Mensa moved its national office from New York to Texas years ago, showing some intelligence.
The faction in its internal politics that supported this move had to fight tooth-and-nail against a clique of power freaks dead-set against it, and later the power freaks got back in control and turned the Texas office into an expensive bureaucracy which is taking increasing control of things over the local volunteers, despite it being in a lower-cost location.
As in the case of NASA I'm completely amazed at how much intelligent thought and goal-oriented behavior toward some worthwhile project* ends up COMPLETELY subordinated to petty office politics, the struggle for minor amounts of power in minimal-stake games, and so on.
And then I realize (again) that all of our intelligence was probably developed IN THE SERVICE of playing petty "office politics" (in the days before we had offices, but it was the same tribal band stuff). So it's to be expected. It probably has something to do with sex and the politics of better mate or resource access in small groups, in return for even minimal social climbing.
Anyway, it corrodes all organizations. Mired in little fiefdoms, they can't remember their mission. Wikipedia is typical. In the military, infighting is so bad that interservice rivalry and interoffice politics takes precident over winning battles. At NASA, we Need Another Seven Astronauts regularly, or else suffer crippling delays, because a power stuggle killed the Saturn, our best man-rated booster. Just as it's now in the process of ruining the Shuttle's successor, the FUBAR Orion.
My fix for all this? Simple. Mandatory castration of all managment, for teams larger than 5.
Milton
(If you have fundamental problems about anything, don't be shy about asking. I can help).
* like ending hunger or disease, or finding out some new scientific fact