About this quote

Bureaucracy has a special way of concentrating incompetence into official committees. We often expect group leadership to yield wiser decisions, but the opposite usually happens. When you run into baffling institutional decisions, remember that institutional stupidity is an ancient human tradition. Why do we keep acting surprised when committees act foolishly? Accepting this reality helps you stop banging your head against the wall and start finding workarounds.

When to use it

• You are sitting in a three-hour corporate alignment meeting where five executives argue over the color of a slide deck. You lean over to your coworker and whisper this to keep from losing your mind.
• Your local school district announces a bizarre new policy banning backpacks instead of addressing actual classroom issues. You text this to another parent in your group chat to vent.
• The neighborhood association holds a town hall and spends two hours debating whether mailboxes should be off-white or beige. You write this on a notepad to show your spouse sitting next to you.