--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the things that happens that's…" description: "\"One of the things that happens that's challenging within the democratic process is that people say, 'Look at this failure, so we should totally change ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/reid-hoffman-1342_bureaucratic_one-of-the-things-that-happens-that-s-ch_1426498.png" --- # One of the things that happens that's challenging within… ![“One of the things that happens that's challenging within the democratic process is that people say, 'Look at this failure, so we should totally change this whole thing.' And then you add in tons of bureaucratic process and checks and balances, and all of a sudden, it doesn't work that well.” quote by Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/reid-hoffman-1342_bureaucratic_one-of-the-things-that-happens-that-s-ch_1426498.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/reid-hoffman-1342_bureaucratic_one-of-the-things-that-happens-that-s-ch_1426498.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/reid-hoffman-1342_bureaucratic_one-of-the-things-that-happens-that-s-ch_1426498.png) > “One of the things that happens that's challenging within the democratic process is that people say, 'Look at this failure, so we should totally change this whole thing.' And then you add in tons of bureaucratic process and checks and balances, and all of a sudden, it doesn't work that well.” [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democratic change is hampered by over‑bureaucratization, where calls for overhaul meet complex checks, reducing effectiveness. **In simple terms:** Too much bureaucracy slows democratic reforms. Key Takeaway Simplify processes for change. Themes politics bureaucracy reform efficiency Mood analytical cautious Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - legislative reform - organizational change - grassroots movements - e‑government initiatives Key Concepts public policy systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance oversight with agility? - What safeguards are essential? A Different Perspective Complex systems resist rapid change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) [Bureaucratic Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic-process-5066343/) [Challenging Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenging-democratic-5066344/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Checks and balances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/checks-and-balances/) [Democratic process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-process/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Tons Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tons-bureaucratic-5066345/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [ I think Hillary \[Clinton\] has \[woken up to the plight of the middle class\] and is working toward it in a democratic process. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/i-think-hillary-clinton-has-woken-up-to-the-plight-of-the-middle/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [OFSTED has made large cuts in the paperwork which schools are asked to provide and further steps to reduce the bureaucratic burden will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-morris/ofsted-has-made-large-cuts-in-the-paperwork-which-schools-are-asked/) [Estelle Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle-morris/) > [The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/the-bureaucratic-method-of-building-an-integrated-europe-has/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-bureaucratic-manager-the-consuming-aesthete-the-therapist-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-the-bureaucratic-machine-of-socialism-the-way-toward-promotion-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [We need to call what is happening out of Washington, D.C., what it is: Bureaucratic terrorism: If you want a list of stories, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/we-need-to-call-what-is-happening-out-of-washington-d-c-what-it-is/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [ \[The Clinton health care initiative is\] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-washed-over-old-time/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-work-is-made-on-lines-similar-to-those-of-a-film-production-a-lot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-yeager/in-1966-nasa-took-over-in-space-and-it-has-been-a-bureaucratic-mess/) [Chuck Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-yeager/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) ## More by Reid Hoffman > [As an entrepreneur and investor, I prioritize construction and collaboration. Whether it's a five-person start-up or a global giant, the companies that are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/as-an-entrepreneur-and-investor-i-prioritize-construction-and/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [In software speed to market, speed to learning is really key. In hardware if you screw it up you are dead. So accuracy really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/in-software-speed-to-market-speed-to-learning-is-really-key-in/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [“Stockpiling facts won’t get you anywhere. What will get you somewhere is being able to access the information you need, when you need it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/stockpiling-facts-won-t-get-you-anywhere-what-will-get-you-somewhere/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [I think the randomness by Donald Trump's governing, by tweeting, sloganeering, attacking, will create great chaos in the entire market. I think people will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/i-think-the-randomness-by-donald-trump-s-governing-by-tweeting/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [Democracy is always frustrating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/democracy-is-always-frustrating/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [One of the ways they run forward is by viewing the thing they’re doing as something that’s going to be the whole world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/one-of-the-ways-they-run-forward-is-by-viewing-the-thing-they-re/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [If you could train an AI to be a Buddhist, it would probably be pretty good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/if-you-could-train-an-ai-to-be-a-buddhist-it-would-probably-be-pretty/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [It’s actually pretty easy to be contrarian. It’s hard to be contrarian and right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/it-s-actually-pretty-easy-to-be-contrarian-it-s-hard-to-be-contrarian/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [Giving birth to something that could possibly change the lives of millions of people for possibly decades, hundreds of years, whatever the length of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/giving-birth-to-something-that-could-possibly-change-the-lives-of/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [The entrepreneurial journey starts with jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/the-entrepreneurial-journey-starts-with-jumping-off-a-cliff-and/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [Be persistent, and hang on to your vision. And at the same time, be flexible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/be-persistent-and-hang-on-to-your-vision-and-at-the-same-time-be/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [First mover Advantage doesn't go to the company that starts up, it goes to the company that scales up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/first-mover-advantage-doesn-t-go-to-the-company-that-starts-up-it/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [Before dreaming about the future or marking plans, you need to articulate what you already have going for you - as entrepreneurs do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/before-dreaming-about-the-future-or-marking-plans-you-need-to/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [The metaphor that I frequently use for entrepreneurship is jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane plane on the way down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/the-metaphor-that-i-frequently-use-for-entrepreneurship-is-jumping/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [ I think most of \[people\] are not very well educated themselves to understand the Winston Churchill line - democracy is the worst of all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/i-think-most-of-people-are-not-very-well-educated-themselves-to/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) [Explore all 253 Reid Hoffman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) ## More Bureaucratic quotes > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-yeager/in-1966-nasa-took-over-in-space-and-it-has-been-a-bureaucratic-mess/) [Chuck Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-yeager/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-work-is-made-on-lines-similar-to-those-of-a-film-production-a-lot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Clinton health care initiative is\] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-washed-over-old-time/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [We need to call what is happening out of Washington, D.C., what it is: Bureaucratic terrorism: If you want a list of stories, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/we-need-to-call-what-is-happening-out-of-washington-d-c-what-it-is/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) > [In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-the-bureaucratic-machine-of-socialism-the-way-toward-promotion-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-bureaucratic-manager-the-consuming-aesthete-the-therapist-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/the-bureaucratic-method-of-building-an-integrated-europe-has/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [OFSTED has made large cuts in the paperwork which schools are asked to provide and further steps to reduce the bureaucratic burden will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-morris/ofsted-has-made-large-cuts-in-the-paperwork-which-schools-are-asked/) [Estelle Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle-morris/) > [“First, since so much time is spent by people in bureaus working with paper, they may come to set too much store by it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-since-so-much-time-is-spent-by-people-in-bureaus-working-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 96 Bureaucratic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the things that happens that's challenging within the democratic process is that people say, 'Look at this failure, so we should totally change this whole thing.' 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