The old adage about cogs and wheels may have been true years ago, but these days it is increasingly common to hear the huge graunching sound as the wheels grind to a halt, tearing the machine apart; only for new wheels to be reinvented instead of replacing the cog. Much of MoD is now manned by professional wheel-reinventors who don't know what a cog is.
It is what caused much of the £38Bn deficit, leading to yet another tranche of redundancies announced today.