Clay Shirky on an important lesson from the poor implementation of Healthcare.gov:
In well run organizations, information runs from the top down and from the bottom up.
As Clay points out in his piece, well run organisations gain the benefits of efficiency and effectiveness by taking this approach.
Just as important, this approach also gives line employees a stake in outcomes and implicitly creates a sense of motivation and purpose. Without two-way information flow and some degree of devolution of control to those actually doing the work, your organisation is almost guaranteed to see talent walk out the door. Beyond a point, no monetary incentive can compensate for the frustration that talented employees feel from the lack of genuine control over one's work.
Which is what I mean by the very tongue-in-cheek title of this post: the more you frustrate your own employees, the more likely they are to leave and start something of their own.
See Clay's piece for background: Healthcare.gov and the Gulf Between Planning and Reality
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