Who needs red tape?

Something about this box on the stairs at work made me smile this morning. It did quite literally contain red tape. It is double sided tape used in the large format print industry to put up a whole range of stuff and is in fact very useful.

However for my generation red tape is something that has a very different meaning. My generation heard many governments of all colours promise to remove red tape from the running of the country. Red tape was a term used to describe the bureaucratic paperwork and cross checking required to get anything done in a large complex organisation. we were told that this would be swept away if we voted for . . . .. . Like so many things with large organisations it is much easier to promise change than deliver it and so it was with red tape.

Strangely it is understood that the origins of the phrase comes from the Spanish court of Charles V who in an effort to stream line his complex organisation tried to bring in a form of coding to documents - those wrapped in red tape required particular attention; those wrapped with string were of less importance. However it seems this efficiency drive just lead to more and more red tape. I think we were promised similar gains from many software packages. Each generation believes that if they can just implement this or that new system then life will be simpler, more just, more equitable etc.

There is a wonderful book written in the 1950s called Parkinson Law. I think it is currently out of print but there are 2nd hand versions on popular sites. It tells in a humorous way how we come to be in the cycle of unexpected complexity coming from great ideas of simplification. Well worth a read if you can get hold of a copy.

There are good uses of red tape. Many legal documents that give us stability and justice in the UK are wrapped in red (sometimes pink) tape to denote their importance. Without some control and overhead of cross check I am not sure I would ever set foot on a plane. We need some order and control - but the challenge is always, how much? 

I am sure many of you are much better at the Oscar Wilde style witty reply but for what it is worth here is my rule for red tape - “Enough to constrain the others, not enough to suffocate me”  

Do let me know your thoughts on red tape, your success stories of ridding your organisation of it or your nightmare experiences.

BTW - this is not a political post about sausages in Northern Ireland despite the temptation to reference it.