Red Tape Theory: Overcomplicated systems create inefficient resource management. Whatever is gained by adding to a system is offset by its growing complexity.
Systems tend to get more complicated as more requirements come in for its use. The belief is that because it is mechanical as it is a system, that it can handle as much complexity as it needs to. The issue is that the systems are implemented by people, so it is constrained to that. When the complexity rises too high, the system starts to break down as it is cumbersome and misused by people.
What This Means
This means that we have to monitor the complexity of a system. We need to keep complexity low by rethinking the systems when new requirements come in. If we don’t manage the complexity, the system can collapse on itself. Many times people will simply abandon the system and do it the hard way rather than deal with it. The best way to deal with this is to not let every requirement come in, but only focus on the main parts. The cost of letting the small things fall through the crack is smaller than incorporating it in the system.
An Example
Hiring is the simplest example of this. Creating a system that checks everything possible to see if a person is a good fit can cause the system to rule out far more people than it should. Instead the system should focus on a couple key points and assess from that. It is too hard to sort through the complexity of the system to discern why people didn’t make the cut.
