Simple Sabotage Field Manual
by United States. Office of Strategic Services., Sgt Wolf, Stratigic Services, The Director of Strategic Services, The United States Services, United States Services, Strategic Services, Reproduction Branch, United States Office of Strategic Services Staff · first published 1944
14% recommend86% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, wry WWII OSS manual on deliberately slowing organizations down through small inefficiencies. It is funny and useful for understanding bureaucratic dysfunction and workplace resistance.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From the text: This Simple Sabotage Field Manual Strategic Services (Provisional) is published for the information and guidance of all concerned and will be used as the basic doctrine for Strategic Services training for this subject. The contents of this Manual should be carefully controlled and should not be allowed to come into unauthorized hands. The instructions may be placed in separate pamphlets or leaflets according to categories of operations but should be distributed with care and not broadly. They should be used as a basis of radio broadcasts only for local and special cases and as d
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Simple Sabotage Field Manual (Office of Strategic Services, 1944) is full of suggestions along these lines, which appear to still be in wide use.
on “Google is now a Visionary Sponsor of the Python Software Foundation” ↗His only mistake is explaining himself. If it were my call, every hate group's content would have inexplicable persistent problems. I'd use the Simple Sabotage Field Manual as my playbook.
on “Why We Terminated Daily Stormer” ↗I suggest reading the Simple Sabotage Field Manual; the individual and organizational behaviors you are describing are indistinguishable from those of a skilled saboteur: https://archive.org/download/SimpleSabotageFieldManualStrate...
on “FAA says computer failure was caused by 2 contractors who introduced data errors” ↗…capable of hating this shit even while my employment situation demands that I use it. If you're working somewhere that's pushing this stuff, there's never been a better time to dust off your copy of the "Simple Sabotage Field Manual."
on “Hating AI Is Good” ↗Technically the Simple Sabotage Field Manual is from OSS--the CIA's predecessor. The Manual is one of my favorite pieces of historical literature, but I think that people become too cynical about large organizations after they read the manual.…
on “Excerpt from CIA's Simple Sabotage Field Manual (1944)” ↗People inside the Ukraine or Russia should read the US WWII Simple Sabotage Field Manual: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26184/page-images/26184-imag... Winning the ground war will probably be easy for Putin. Governing the resulting quagmire will be much more difficult.
on “Ukraine calls on hacker underground to defend against Russia” ↗Some alternative advice ... to preserve your sanity in today's modern workplace start with reading: https://libcom.org/article/simple-sabotage-field-manual and then proceed to selections from this bookshelf: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/index
on “Advice on Being Managed” ↗…Life of John von Neumann (Ananyo Bhattacharya - 2022) - Documentary Memory Machines - The Evolution of Hypertext (Belinda Barnet) - Kinda about how the web was born and about interesting dead branches Simple Sabotage Field Manual - really funny https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184
on “I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books” ↗…objection of conscience is definitely a right you have as a professional, but it's a neutral action, you refuse to do something, and you let someone else do it. Correct, and the lessons in the CIA's very own Simple Sabotage Field Manual are still as helpful as when they were written.
on “Civic Hygiene – avoid building technologies that could be used by a police state (2013)” ↗You’ll like the Simple Sabotage Field Manual too: https://archive.org/details/simplesabotagefi26184gut/page/n1... It helped the allies win WWII. It contains lots of good advice (and the white collar chapter should be required reading in corporate…
on “Pentagon rescinds new testosterone screening policy without explanation” ↗…spot the cleavages. Here's some examples of how that could work: - Do you have a neighbor that works for the government who got that weird Elon Musk fork offer e-mail? Maybe slip them a copy of the Simple Sabotage Field Manual. - Are you in a terrible workplace? Get to know your co-workers. Find time to talk with them when the boss isn't watching. Plan shit. - Take any opportunity you can to get to know people who work in…
on “The A.I. Monarchy” ↗In the first paragraph on the linked page > In 1944, CIA’s precursor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), created the Simple Sabotage Field Manual.
on “Declassified CIA documents detail how to sabotage employers, annoy bosses” ↗…bureaucracies, in turn, are paralyzed with indecision (or indifference). Insist on getting sign-offs from higher authorities, who you know in turn will do nothing. This is stuff straight out of the CIA's Simple Sabotage Field Manual (1944). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29597454
on “Mexico cracks down on solar geoengineering, forcing startup to pause operations” ↗Thanks! Macroexpanded: Simple Sabotage Field Manual by United States Office of Strategic Services - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31676964 - June 2022 (55 comments) Simple Sabotage Field Manual - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31070624 -…
on “US Government published guide to sabotage organizational productivity (1944)” ↗See also "Simple Sabotage Field Manual", by United States Office of Strategic Services, written by US military for use in occupied countries in Europe. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184
on “IP Address Blocking Banned After Anti-Piracy Court Order Hit Cloudflare” ↗