The queue itself performs a parallel function. Universities possess effectively infinite appetite for administrative support, generating grants, IT support, hiring proposals, and compliance reviews at a rate that far outpaces the budgeted capacity to handle them. In this environment, complexity and delay serve as informal demand throttles. Required forms, committee approvals, and mandatory wait times are not merely inefficiency. They are rationing mechanisms that prevent the system from collapsing under load. Eliminating friction without expanding capacity (or reducing non-value-added activities or handoffs) does not improve service. It accelerates defective work.
Source: In Defense of Overwhelmed Bureaucrats – by Timothy Chester