CIA: How to destroy a company

Or, how companies destroy themselves

During World War 2, the OSS (precursor to the CIA) created a manual to help its spies break down the efficiency and effectiveness of enemy organizations. Logistics wins wars, so this was a critical part of the war effort.

The targets of these sabotage efforts were anything from strategic military planning departments to armaments manufacturers. The intent was to weaken the operational efficiency of organizations supporting the enemy’s war effort.

These sabotage techniques weren’t what you’d typically see in the movies – they didn’t require bombs or guns. Instead, moles within enemy organizations used the techniques to slow decision making and progress. The techniques were as simple as asking irrelevant questions or seeking consensus where none was required. These techniques didn’t raise suspicion, because they simply spread bad business practices masquerading as productive work.

I’ve provided the list of techniques directly from the manual below. As you read through the list, what you’ll notice is that many of these sabotage techniques are activities and behaviours that happen every day in modern bureaucratic businesses.

Ever wonder why it’s so hard to get anything done at work?

Most people working in businesses today aren’t purposely trying to create inefficiencies. Yet, many people – including senior leadership – unknowingly behave in ways that align with the CIA’s suggestions for killing efficiency.

I believe this is because few executives running businesses today pay attention to the actual science of managing a business.

To get to their position, many executives simply rose through the ranks after starting as functional experts with no real management training. While many of these people eventually get additional education, many business schools and corporate training programs do a poor job of actually teaching people how to run companies.

Consequently, many leaders go with their gut instead of evidence-based management. A combination of charisma, confidence and cunning make these leaders appear highly competent so others follow. The honest truth is in most bureaucracies it’s the blind who lead the blind.

When you manage a business using your gut, you go with what feels right. Does an activity feel like work? Is it challenging? Does it involve a lot of people in high positions? If so, it’s easy to equate the activity with ‘progress’.

Corporate leaders and management inadvertently destroy their companies by adopting behaviours that feel like work, yet actually slow down their organizations. This was the core premise of the OSS sabotage techniques.

Striving for consensus, doing everything by the book, creating committees, making speeches and haggling over minutia feel like the right things to do. However, you can spend 10 hours a day doing that stuff without actually moving the business forward. Indeed, these activities are all prescribed by the OSS as ways to sabotage an enemy organization.

Because many of these behaviours are ingrained in many corporate cultures, it takes intelligent, conscientious and honest leaders to cut activities that feel important to everyone yet produce nothing. Once indoctrinated into the corporate culture, these behavioural patterns are very difficult to change. This is why large companies can slowly drift right into an iceberg everyone sees coming from miles away.

If you want to build or lead an effective organization, I suggest reading the following list of sabotage techniques from the Simple Sabotage Field Manual and doing the opposite:

(1) Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.

(2) Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length.

(3) When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committees as large as possible—never less than five.

(4) Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.

(5) Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.

(6) Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.

(7) Demand written orders.

(8) “Misunderstand” orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.

(9) Do everything possible to delay the delivery of orders. Even though parts of an order may be ready beforehand, don’t deliver it until it is completely ready.

(10) In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first.

(11) Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products; send back for refinishing those which have the least flaw. Approve other defective parts whose flaws are not visible to the naked eye.

(12) When training new workers, give incomplete or misleading instructions.

(13) To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.

(14) Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.

(15) Multiply paper work in plausible ways.

(16) Start duplicate files.

(17) Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing instructions, pay checks, and so on. See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.

(18) Apply all regulations to the last letter.

(19) Do your work poorly and blame it on bad tools, machinery, or equipment. Complain that these things are preventing you from doing your job right.

(20) Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.

(21) Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.

(22) Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.

(23) Act stupid.

(24) Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting

yourself into trouble.

(25) Misunderstand all sorts of regulations concerning such matters as rationing, transportation, traffic regulations.