Fight Parkinson

3 On 2008.08.12 at 09:25 GMT thus spake Jimmy Boss:

JRB sends in brilliance:

“* INJELITANCE: A vital Parkinson contribution was his diagnosis of why certain organizations suddenly deteriorate: the rise to authority of individuals with unusually high combinations of incompetence and jealousy (“injelitance”).

“The injelitant individual is easily recognizable from the persistence with which he struggles to eject all those abler than himself. He dare not say, ‘Mr. Asterisk is too able,’ so he says, ‘Asterisk? Clever perhaps—but is he sound?’ … The [organization] gradually fills up with people more stupid than the chairman….”

Organizations can be cured of injelititis spontaneously, when an individual conditioned to hide his intelligence penetrates to the top post and “suddenly throws off the mask and appears like the demon king among a crowd of pantomime fairies.” Or sometimes a massive amputation and simultaneous transfusion of new blood will work—but not always. Ultimately, however, the only course is to eliminate the organization completely. “Infected personnel should be dispatched with a warm testimonial to such rival institutions as are regarded with particular hostility…. As for the [office] buildings, the best plan is to insure them heavily and then set them alight.”

— How Do You Cure Injelitance? – Vdare.com