When Processes Becomes More Important Than Results

- Dear Democracy, you have turned into a dysfunctional Bureaucracy

Recently, I happened to have a chance conversation with some of the rare good people in the echelons of power in the government and this is what they said ails the state- an overbearing emphasis on the process over and above the result. "Of course, when trying to manage the largest democratic government with its multitude of powers and interests, you can never be unbiased in totality; what is unfavorable to you may be very profitable to someone else," they said. 

And then there is also the Indian way with a huge tolerance for false negative errors-meaning, we are tolerant of giving benefits to the undeserving in order to ensure all the deserving receive them.

So the processes were established ages ago to ensure transparency and safeguard the interests of the larger society. These very same processes set up to protect are now a major hindrance and often fail to do what they are supposed to. Why?

1. We give far less than our best
   Call it the 'chalta hai', 'happy-go-lucky' or the 'why-would-I-care' attitude, we are happy with mere survival and sustenance; as long as it works, we don't try to fix it, no matter how slow or how bad it works. And this is not because we are incapable- a few have the drive to go beyond the ordinary, to think beyond the obvious and set themselves up to the task.
2. We don't own up our deeds
   Things go wrong- the buck never stops here- we are masters in passing it on. But mind you, if things go right- no one takes notice, or worse yet, the undeserving walk away with the honors.
3. We have a flourishing trade in favors
   We were an honorable race. (the 'were' is intentional)
   But we lost it the day we introduced money into the equation of barter of favors. Today, we have a thriving market place for favors that could potentially be the largest contributor to our nation's wealth; but sadly, it has no place in that calculation.
4. We have a narrow view of problems and solutions
   We seldom try to identify the causes of problems our analyses are largely symptomatic and solutions interim and shallow. Very few externalities are taken into account and most of these are ignored too, later. Also at play is the public goods problem- 'I don't need to contribute; everyone else would, anyways'. And we end up with problems shoven under the carpet, which only return manifold later, like the Hydra of yore.

This is not a problem confined to the government, it very well persists in the private sector as well; and the larger the organization, the more deep-rooted the problem. An example- to unbox a computer and key in the id, there is an elaborate process that takes well over 2 days; for something that anybody could do in a few minutes, this is a waste in the true sense of the word.

It is not that we don't know what should be done. The feasible solutions are widely known-

1. Simplify the processes; eliminate useless, pointless steps that have far outlived their time– optimizing the supply/delivery/value chain and hasten the decision making processes
2. Establish institutions- empowered, agile and independent
3. Use technology to make information available- better data leads to better decisions

Now, do the people who can have what it takes to bring the change? Do we have the commitment to follow through without whining? Are we ready to get our hands dirty trying to fix the democratic machinery?