Feedback Wanted
A fictional institution can be very convincing without being efficient. Sometimes that’s the point.
The useful distinction is whether it actually solves problems, or just knows how to manage the appearance of solving them. The second one often feels more real, because it has forms, procedures, and people who can quote policy at you while the mess keeps growing.
That’s usually where the story gets interesting. Efficient systems are tidy. Well-practised ones are where the rot learns to wear a name badge.
The useful distinction is whether it actually solves problems, or just knows how to manage the appearance of solving them. The second one often feels more real, because it has forms, procedures, and people who can quote policy at you while the mess keeps growing.
That’s usually where the story gets interesting. Efficient systems are tidy. Well-practised ones are where the rot learns to wear a name badge.
Sometimes the most convincing fictional place is the one that wastes time properly. Forms in triplicate, meetings that could have been emails, everyone pretending the delay is a feature not a failure. That said, if a system never actually does anything, it tips over into parody pretty fast. The trick is letting it work just enough to keep the damage hidden.
Efficiency is overrated in fiction if it comes at the expense of texture. A department that works too well starts to feel invented in the wrong direction. Real institutions waste time, duplicate effort and still somehow miss the obvious. That’s where the pressure is. A form stamped in triplicate can be more menacing than a gun, if the person behind it knows exactly how to slow you down.