Aah, the good old days of Business Process Reengineering (BPR)—when we didn’t just optimize businesses; we obliterated them.
It started with Michael Hammer’s 1990 HBR article, “Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate.” The idea was simple: don’t tweak business processes—tear them down and rebuild them leaner, meaner, and cheaper.
BPR quickly became a corporate religion, with consulting giants like McKinsey, Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), KPMG, and boutiques like CSC Index and Gemini Consulting selling CEOs on the dream of hyper-efficiency, which really meant drastic cost cuts and fatter bonuses for them.
We were all in, me included, as I did stints in two of these firms.
Our junior consultants were trained to dissect financials, analyze cost structures, and hunt for inefficiencies—which invariably meant eliminating jobs or RIF (Reduction in Force). Deep business knowledge led to hesitation, which was bad for business. Ruthless, numbers-driven cost-cutting was the priority.
Our fees were tied to the savings we documented in our Business Case. Anything soft, like competitive positioning, innovation, or customer satisfaction, was ignored—too fluffy. RIF was the game’s name, and to consultants, it was just a number preceded by a dollar sign—not real people managing careers, raising families, or trying to get ahead.
Technology should have played an indispensable role in business improvement, but because it was expensive and time-consuming, it was conveniently left out of the Business Case.
At the end of long days, our teams would gather for dinner, sip good wine, and swap war stories. The true winners weren’t those who optimized operations; they were the ones who found high RIF numbers and entire business units to eliminate. That was the home run.
Profits soared. Stock prices skyrocketed. CEOs got fatter bonuses. We made out like bandits. Life was good.
So, BPR Worked—Until It Didn’t
The cracks started to show. Institutional knowledge evaporated. Once-thriving businesses weakened, lacking the talent that made them competitive. Employees were demoralized, leading to pushback, disengagement – even sabotage.
By the late ‘90s, BPR was dead. Its reckless cost-cutting, employee backlash, and organizational meltdowns shredded its reputation.
Like all good corporate buzzwords, BPR, was quietly buried and replaced with Six Sigma, Digital Disruption, and Business Transformation. The big firms survived. The boutiques? Gone.
But Guess What? Business Obliteration is Back
This time, it’s not corporate America in the crosshairs—it’s the federal government. And the ones swinging the axe aren’t consulting firms but a newly minted agency: the Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE.
DOGE has resurrected all the worst parts of BPR: inexperienced professionals making sweeping changes in agencies they don’t understand, a blind obsession with cost-cutting regardless of long-term damage, and a complete disregard for institutional knowledge, morale, or public service impact.
It’s the ‘90s all over again, but the stakes are higher this time. Educators, researchers, air traffic controllers, nuclear energy experts, federal emergency professionals, tax professionals, you name it—no one is safe. Universities and research institutions are already feeling the squeeze.
And the results? Spectacular. DOGE is achieving levels of obliteration we never even dreamed of. Entire government agencies deleted in weeks. Tens of thousands of federal workers unemployed. Lifesaving programs eliminated. A masterpiece.
So, to DOGE, I tip my hat.
What could possibly go wrong this time?
During the pandemic, I joined a group of seasoned ex-consultants and business executives in launching Prometheus Endeavor, a nonprofit to help leaders leverage digital and IT to build a better world.
We experienced the 90s and learned that true transformation calls for all sorts of people to do things they have not done before: clear objectives, resources, skills, governance, and technology.
Gonzalo: Your comments are relevant and valuable, especially in providing a history of the tremendous pitfalls involved in totally dehumanizing the process. It is tragic that federal administrators are doing the same thing with federal agencies and responsibilities. And the political parties need to relearn how to listen well to people who feel left behind in the name of efficiency or academic excellence and superiority.
Gonzalo, your article relates a history to which we can all attest and how current events are repeating past mistakes on a grand scale.