Anybody who’s dealt with a government or large organization has run in to a stereotypical character – the manager who follows the rules with no apparent sensitivity to the circumstances regarding a given situation, or the consequences of his or her directives. We vilify these people as buffoons who are completely isolated from reality.
What doesn’t get discussed is that our traditional system of management not only tolerates this behavior, but creates it. According to the rules of hierarchical management, it is the manager’s job to know, and to give orders accordingly. Asking workers who interact with customers is not part of the job description.
Blaming people, whether workers or managers, will not solve the problem as long as we have a management system that is perfectly designed to create insensitive bureaucrats.