You’ve probably sat in a meeting this week that felt like it was designed by a committee of people who hate productivity. You know the one. Someone insists on "re-evaluating" a decision that was already made. Another person demands everything be put into a formal written report before any action is taken. A third person brings up a tiny, irrelevant detail that derails the entire conversation for forty-five minutes. Honestly, it’s enough to make you want to scream. But here is the wild part: these exact behaviors were actually weaponized during World War II. They weren't just "annoying habits." They were tactical instructions found in the Simple Sabotage Field Manual, a declassified document created by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA.
It's a strange thing to read today.
Originally published in 1944, this manual wasn't written for elite commandos or professional spies. It was written for the average citizen living in occupied territory. The goal? Show them how to mess things up from the inside without getting caught. It’s basically a guide on how to be the worst possible employee, but in a way that looks like you’re just being "thorough" or "diligent." When you look at the instructions now, the resemblance to modern corporate culture is, frankly, terrifying.
What the OSS Actually Intended
The OSS director, William "Wild Bill" Donovan, understood something fundamental about human organizations. He knew that you didn't need to blow up a bridge to stop a train. Sometimes, you just needed to make sure the paperwork for the train's coal delivery was lost in the mail. Or that the station master was busy arguing about a minor regulation while the train sat idle on the tracks.
The manual divides sabotage into two categories: physical and human. While the physical stuff involves things like putting sand in gas tanks or dulling saw blades, the second half—the "General Interference with Organizations and Production"—is where it gets truly interesting for us today. This wasn't about breaking machines. It was about breaking people and their ability to work together.
The genius of the Simple Sabotage Field Manual was its focus on "non-suspicious" behavior. If you burn down a factory, you get shot. If you simply insist on "perfection" and "proper channels" until the factory misses its deadline, you might actually get promoted. It’s the ultimate stealth mission.
The Tactics That Sound Exactly Like Your Last Meeting
If you want to understand why your office feels like a slog, you have to look at the specific instructions given to saboteurs in the 1940s. One of the most famous directives in the manual is to "insist on doing everything through channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions. Think about that for a second. How many times have you been told that a simple fix has to go through "legal," then "compliance," and then "the executive steering committee"?
The manual also suggests that saboteurs should "make long speeches" and "talk as frequently as possible and at great length." They were told to illustrate their "points" by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. Sound familiar? We’ve all been trapped in a Zoom call with that one guy who turns a two-minute update into a twenty-minute monologue about his "vision." According to the OSS, that guy isn't just a bore; he’s a saboteur.
Managers and Supervisors: The Prime Targets
The manual had specific "advice" for people in leadership positions. They were told to:
- Demand written orders.
- "Misunderstand" instructions and ask endless questions.
- Balk at decisions.
- Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when asked a simple question.
- Pertaining to new employees, give them the wrong tools or assign them to the least important tasks.
The instructions for committees are particularly brutal. The manual literally says to "refer all matters to committees, for 'further study and consideration.'" It suggests making those committees as large as possible—never less than five people. The goal is to ensure that no decision is ever actually reached because there are too many voices in the room.
Why Sabotage Works (Even When It's Unintentional)
Most people today aren't actively trying to bring down their own companies. They aren't secret agents for a foreign power. But the Simple Sabotage Field Manual works because it taps into the natural friction of human bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is meant to provide order, but when it becomes the goal instead of the tool, it becomes sabotage.
📖 Related: Fry Daddy's Prichard AL: What Most People Get Wrong
In the 1940s, this was a way to resist fascism. In 2026, it’s often a byproduct of "safety-first" corporate culture or a lack of clear accountability. When no one wants to take a risk, everyone defaults to the behaviors described in the manual. They "refer to previous decisions" to avoid making new ones. They "bring up irrelevant issues" to stall a project they don't like. It’s a defense mechanism that kills innovation.
The OSS knew that if you could make a workplace sufficiently miserable and inefficient, the "enemy" would eventually collapse from the inside out. They wanted to create a culture of frustration. They wanted workers to feel like their time was being wasted. They wanted managers to feel overwhelmed by trivia. Looking at the modern burnout rates and the "quiet quitting" phenomenon, it’s hard not to feel like these 80-year-old tactics are still incredibly effective.
Real-World Examples of "Accidental" Sabotage
I’ve seen this happen in real-time at massive tech firms and tiny startups alike. I once worked with a company where a single middle manager held up a product launch for six months because they insisted the color of a specific button needed "more stakeholder alignment." That is textbook sabotage.
Another example: the "Reply All" email chain. While the manual obviously doesn't mention email, its spirit is all over the practice of CC’ing fifteen people on a message that only concerns two. It creates noise. It buries the signal. It forces people to spend their most productive hours of the day sorting through junk instead of doing the work they were hired to do.
The manual also advises people to "be worried about the propriety of any decision" and to ask whether such a decision falls within the jurisdiction of the group. This is the 1944 version of "staying in our lane." It’s a way to kill momentum by questioning whether you even have the right to move forward.
How to De-Sabotage Your Organization
If your workplace feels like a training ground for OSS recruits, you need to actively work against the manual’s directives. It’s not enough to just work harder; you have to change the rules of engagement.
👉 See also: Fidelity Bank Southern Pines: Why Locals Still Choose the Red Wagon
First, slash the committees. If a meeting has more than five people, it’s probably a waste of time. Give people the authority to make decisions without "checking with the team" for the tenth time. Trust is the enemy of sabotage. When you trust people to do their jobs, you remove the need for the "channels" and "oversight" that slow everything down.
Second, embrace the "good enough" decision. The manual encourages saboteurs to be perfectionists because perfectionism is paralyzing. By pushing for a "perfect" solution, you ensure that no solution ever happens. Move fast, break things, and fix them later. It’s a cliché for a reason—it’s the direct opposite of what a saboteur wants you to do.
Third, kill the long speeches. If someone can’t explain their point in three sentences, they probably don't have a point. Encourage brevity. Reward people who get to the "so what" immediately.
Recognizing the Signs
It’s also worth taking a look at your own behavior. Are you following the Simple Sabotage Field Manual without realizing it?
✨ Don't miss: Who Owns Coca-Cola: It’s Not Just One Person in a Suit
- Do you wait for a formal meeting to solve a problem that could be handled in a 30-second chat?
- Do you ask for more data when you already know what needs to be done?
- Do you prioritize "process" over "results"?
If you answered yes to these, you’re basically a volunteer for the OSS. It’s okay—we all do it sometimes. But identifying it is the first step toward stopping it.
Actionable Steps to Combat Sabotage
To reclaim your productivity and protect your team from these age-old tactics, consider implementing these specific changes immediately:
- Define "Sufficiently Decided": Set a rule that once a decision is made, it cannot be reopened without significant new evidence. This prevents the "re-evaluating" loop the manual loves.
- The Two-Pizza Rule: Popularized by Jeff Bezos but perfectly anti-sabotage. If you can't feed a meeting with two pizzas, the meeting is too big.
- Audit Your Procedures: Once a year, look at your "standard operating procedures." If a step exists only for the sake of "proper channels" and adds no value to the final product, delete it.
- Direct Communication: Encourage people to talk across departments without going through their managers first. The manual specifically hates direct communication because it’s too efficient.
- Celebrate Mistakes: Saboteurs thrive in environments where everyone is afraid to be wrong. If your culture punishes minor errors, people will hide behind bureaucracy to protect themselves. By celebrating the "fast fail," you make the saboteur’s job impossible.
The Simple Sabotage Field Manual is a fascinating piece of history, but it's also a mirror. It shows us exactly how fragile our organizations are. It reminds us that efficiency isn't just about software or tools; it's about the choices we make in how we treat each other's time. Next time you're stuck in a meeting that feels like a war of attrition, remember: you’re not just bored. You’re being sabotaged. And now you know exactly how to fight back.