The high cost of relentless centralization

Answer #9 to the question: Why are college costs soaring?

When we go on long car trips, we rely on a decentralized organization that makes the trip affordable. We utilize the network of gas stations for fuel, snacks and rest rooms. We patronize a network of restaurants or grocery stores for meals away from home. We also deploy nodes in a network of motels, hotels and campgrounds for overnight lodging. The trip is affordable because we do not need to own, manage or staff all those places we stop at.

Colleges and universities are structured like car trips that only make stops at places it controls. Every facet of the journey is administrated from the top of the hierarchy. Every service is staffed, managed and supplied from headquarters. When something gets decided in the remote location, the authority to make that decision has been delegated from the central command. It's like limiting one's car trip to gas stations, restaurants and lodging owned by your family. You'd also need to own a huge number of stops for every trip you might take.

Centralized structures cannot decentralize without losing their sense of purpose. They assume that "all is lost" when they lose control, rely on unrelated services or partner with unqualified contributors. They cling to a perceived necessity of centralized controls and ownership, even though it "makes the trip too costly". Centralized structures maintain their controls "at all costs" even when they soar out of sight.