American business is dominated by risk aversion, never screwing up & procedures. This creates something similar to the perfect storm -- the perfect bureaucrat. The only real power the bureaucrat has...is deciding the order of processing. Power is displayed by moving the unhappy victim to the bottom of the pile. Screaming about petty mistakes is also popular. As long as he/she/it has the procedure manual, all knowledge is contained therein. No compromise.

The culture has grown into advancing those who take no chances, make no decisions, and always follow the book. We spend more of our lives covering our asses than actually producing. We create mini-Hitlers with our bureaucrats by promoting the procedurally anal-retentive into management positions. Just cause you shuffle papers, doesn't mean you can work with human beings. These paper centric Nazis are careful to broadcast your mistakes to everyone, but always apologize privately for their own. "As long as my ass is covered, I don't give a rat's ass who quits, who I hurt, or how many customers go down the road." Putting  one of these people in charge of any "service" department is like appointing Josef Mengele to Surgeon General.

I'm standing in a long line at the store. Ms. 500 coupons is in front of me arguing that her 26 cents off CheezWhiz should be tripled not doubled. The Paper Nazi argues, calls the manager. The Smart Employee sees 3 abandoned carts, gives Ms. 500 her way, and moves us all along.

Complement the Smart Employee to the Manager! Complain about the Paper Nazi!