When People and Organizations Are Too Rigid

Interpretation of Bolman and Deal (2008) is understood as the job role of the individual has become so rigid that that they fail to focus on the big picture or are just unclear about what their job responsibility is.  The person lacks creativity and does not consider how their behavior will impact the end result when dealing with a customer, client or citizen. The individual is boxed into a role or an organization functions with stringent rules and procedures that does not allow them to veer away from the job function or use proper judgement when dealing with the public.  

I found two interesting articles that reflects this: 

The first case - TSA and the elderly.  Here two elderly women were humiliated and tremendously embarrassed as they were stripped search by TSA employees at Kennedy Airport.  The women were 89 and 85 in age.  

According to Shapiro (2012), one woman was forced to show her colonoscopy bag and the other, who declined to go through the scanner and admitted to wearing a defibrillator bag, had her clothing removed instead of being patted down. Apparently, TSA said they had volunteered.  There is nothing about volunteering when you have the pressure of the TSA standing in front of you.  One of the women was in a wheelchair and with a walker in her lap because she had injured her leg (Shapiro, 2012).  TSA later admitted publicly that they the workers had violated procedures (Shapiro, 2012).   

Reference:

Schapiro, Rich. (2012, January 18).  TSA admits wrongdoing in in cases of two elderly woman who claim there were stripped search.  New York Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/tsa-apologizes-elderly-women-strip-search-kennedy-airport-article-1.1007725# 

The second case - Fish and Wildlife Service goes after a tree trimmer. 

When you think about the amount of work, problems and issues that our government has on their plate to resolve, you really have to wonder who is doing the prioritizing.  While we do need regulations to protect our people and our environment from hazardous conditions, it seems as if the government's judgement was a bit clouded.    

According to Issa (2014), last month the feds attempted to go after a tree trimmer who was hired by the United States Post Office. The trimmer (Mr. Pulido), accidentally cut off a branch that contained Black-Crowned Night Herons, a protected species by the Migratory-Treaty Act (Issa, 2014). The birds fell, none died, but some were injured.  Mr. Pulido apologized, as it was not intentional and made a contribution of $2,500.00 to the sanctuary where the birds were taken (Issa, 2014).  The Fish and Wildlife Service referred him to federal prosecution which could land him in jail for up to six months and a $15,000.00 fine. Issa (2014) states "the federal bureaucracy and the web of new regulations grows more and more complex, the division between common sense governance and what the government does has never been greater" (para.4). 

Issa (2014) goes on to discuss the behavior of the Environmental Protection Agency that did not pursue two of its own with criminal charges, an employee that received a discount of $8,000 on a Mercedes Benz arranged by a lobbyist and an employee that continued to receive salary and benefits even though she wasn't able to work for 5 years.  The charges against Mr. Pulido were dropped after Fish and Wildlife Service were publicly called out by Congress accusing them of bullying tactics.  

Reference:  Issa, Darrell. (2014, June 6). Federal bureaucrats go after tree trimmer. Orange County Register. Retrieved from http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pulido-617286-government-federal.html.