Not that long ago one of the in vogue management speak w*#kwords in regular use in the RAF was empowerment, pushing decision making as far down the chain of command as possible - quite ironic when given this discussion about rank creep and that the very opposite of empowerment is occurring.
Requiring a Gp Capts permission to authorise travel costs for internal UK air fares was a good example of the exact opposite of empowerment. Often several forms had to be filled in, I believe Lossie even created its own unique system, and be signed off by various people before finally landing on the main mans desk. All of which took time, and mean that the Easyjet flight that would have cost £40 last week now costs £80 because the flight is tomorrow. Indeed a colleage of mine was once due to leave the base at 1200, and only finally got approval to go at 1000 the same morning!! Madness.
Last example from me, at least in this post. I joined a certain ME fleet in the late 80s. The hierachy consisted of the boss and 4 Flt Cdrs, so 1 x Wg Cdr and 4 x Sqn Ldrs. I returned to the same fleet 10 years later, only to find that the hierachy now consisited of 1 x Wg Cdr and 6 x Sqn Ldrs. The number of personnel was the same (actually slightly less), no more hours were being flown, no new tasks. Everything was pretty much the same as before, and, at least to my eyes, there was no noticeable improvement in the way the Sqn was run.