The CEO Who Didn’t Want to Make Money

Ouch. Not exactly what you want to hear as a consultant presenting a carefully prepared ROI analysis alongside the internal project manager. That moment stuck with me. Because what he went on to explain was this: projects should always begin with a healthy dose of optimism. And that’s fine — optimism inspires and motivates us to drive change.

But personally, he wasn’t buying it.

He saw his role differently. His mission was to create space for value creation — and to fight anything that clearly stood in its way. Rather than “cherry-picking returns,” he preferred to “eliminate nonsense.” In his words: “I don’t want to make money. I just don’t want to burn any.”

My interpretation? His real focus was on questions like:
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• Which outdated rules are we dragging along that we can finally drop?
• How do we avoid building internal bureaucracy?
• What can we simply stop doing without losing customers in the long run?

The project manager eventually convinced him that the transformation we proposed — introducing an interactive management system — aligned exactly with that mindset.

The system would reduce the wasted effort previously spent preparing and maintaining documents that neither customers valued nor employees used. It would bring transparency to how the organization really worked, giving him visibility into actual workflows — something previously obscured by layers of middle management. And maybe, just maybe, those layers weren’t entirely accidental. Perhaps they were (unconsciously) designed to protect certain vested interests — practices that had long lost their relevance but were still kept alive to satisfy sensitivities.

By implementing the system, he would be building a tool to precisely identify and eliminate dead weight. (See also The management system as a leadership tool: Does it really work?)

A few years later, we spoke again. He was delighted to hear from me and shared enthusiastically how he could now “cut internal red tape with pinpoint accuracy” and how the “audit nonsense is now a lot less nerve-wracking.” He also noted how mastering their processes made onboarding new employees much easier.

It turns out: preventing bureaucracy—and enabling transparency—has real value. At least for him. That value might be hard to quantify, but he was clearly happy. And his P&L likely didn’t suffer either.

Practical Tips for Reducing Bureaucracy and Increasing Efficiency
If you're a quality or process manager looking to sustainably reduce administrative costs in your organization, here are some proven strategies:

• Simplify approval processes
  Don’t wait for everyone to say yes—only discuss decisions when objections arise.
• Set expiration dates for rules
  Every new rule should be regularly reviewed and only kept if actively reaffirmed.
• One in, one out
  For every new rule introduced, eliminate or at least review an existing one.
• Cost-conscious regulation
  When creating new rules or processes, weigh the benefits against their cost and the flexibility they may reduce.
• Lean process analysis
  Routinely identify and simplify unnecessarily complex processes. A lean mindset helps.
• Involve employees
  Create a culture where inefficiencies can be called out and suggestions for improvement are welcome. The best ideas often come from those doing the work.
• Create transparency
  Ensure that all departments have access to the information they need. This reduces misunderstandings and fosters open communication and collaboration.

What opportunities could open up for your company if you find the courage to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy?