It’s a Patience Thing

07 Jan It’s a Patience Thing

The question I am asked more often than not is how to obtain fast results from bureaucracy.

I never really know how to respond. So I take a slow sip of water and some time to think before providing the answer.

Although you may feel we live in a fast-paced world, bureaucracy isn’t made to be fast. Of its nature, it is a little like the tortoise in the “hare and the tortoise”, slow and steady.

What does this mean? It means that you need patience and strategy to deal with bureaucracy. Just like our friend the tortoise.

You see, when everyone thought the hare would win, the tortoise had a surprising victory. While he was clearly outclassed in speed, the tortoise focused on the finish line. Steady and plodding, he consistently moved forward, he applied his strategy and ultimately won the race.

Maybe it’s easier with a few stories.

I have login fatigue. To run my business, I am legally required to log into about twenty different systems once every 3-6 months. I never remember that many passwords, so inevitably it takes me an hour to try passwords, reset them and finally gain access. Next, I have to re-learn the particular logic of the particular system I am trying to use. A few error messages pop up. Generally, I haven’t completed a part of the process that wasn’t obvious to me. A couple of hours later, that’s one system compliance done for that period. Onto the next. By the end of the day, I am not a nice person to be around and if my computer has survived the day, I am probably jumping up and down on it.

So when government introduced single touch payroll for businesses that only employ family, I tried all the systems available. They all did my head in and eventually I nearly screamed at my accountant NO! In May, she asked me if I were ready and I said “it’s just too hard.” I knew that government wouldn’t force us to implement this new system during Covid.

So, through patience, I won that round.

On the other hand, I have had clients who urgently wanted to meet the Minister. They seem to have an idea that once you meet the Minister, if you are asking for something sensible, it will happen fast.

But talking to the Minister first is like the hare running for a few minutes, then finding a nice shady tree. We all know the hare would have won had he waited until the end of the race to sit under the tree.

And, for those Yes Minister fans out there, you will know that a public servant can effectively quash most ministerial ideas with the famous words “that would be a very brave decision Minister.”

Most often, the proposal will not go far.

So my advice? Follow the process, but know your appeal mechanisms. By the time you use those appeal mechanisms, you should be able to demonstrate patience with the process.

More often than not, you will succeed… with patience.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, January 2021. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.