Specifically, it’s the societal problem created by organizations as they grow larger. Systems to manage human resources, hierarchies of management layers, rules made to be fair and keep order, all of it needs to make money on somebody’s spreadsheet.

That’s where workers become expendable teeth on the cogs of a wheel so large that they hardly matter. Pay attention to who gets to break the rules, and when. Pay attention to what is said in contrast to what gets done.