[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” border_style=”solid”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_repeat=”no-repeat” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”no” hover_type=”none” min_height=”” link=””][fusion_text]
I ordered $50 worth of flowers once for a business partner. We can debate whether the purchase was appropriate. From my perspective, instead of spending hundreds (thousands?) of dollars to send staff (no-one wanted to go) to attend a celebration in another city, it felt like it was a prudent way to express our support and goodwill.
I didn’t ask for permission or approval for the purchase. I had a suspicion there were policies against it, but I didn’t check. Once the claim for reimbursement hit the system, three different people in the process told me my purchase was against policy and I couldn’t claim it. Each time, I thanked them for telling me. I acknowledged I had made a mistake and I asked them to process the claim anyway.
Ultimately, it got back to my boss. He told me I couldn’t claim the expense.
“OK,” I said, “I made a mistake. I’d like to be reprimanded for my error in judgment and officially declined for reimbursement.”
I wanted to push the policy. My well-paid, professional brain had made a decision, but there was a policy in place to restrict me from using my own judgement. Choices to spend $50 were beyond my discretion. I led a team of eight.
Weren’t we discouraging creativity and innovation? In the course of trying to do my best for the organization, what if I make a $50,000 mistake? Am I still on the hook? That’s a quick way to stifle any ambition or initiatitive.
That didn’t matter to the system. The bureaucracy demands adherence, not creativity. My job was to adhere, not be creative.
I willfully refused to retract my claim. I really did want someone to explictly say that discretion and personal agency were not allowed.
It didn’t get to that. Even as I protested and tried to refuse, my boss personally reimbursed me.
I was young and itching to be a martyr. I suspect my boss saved me (and them) from some short-term discomfort. The stifling discomfort of bureaucracy won again. How much does that cost?
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
