Simple Error for a Simple Link to the Simple Sabotage Field Manual

September 13, 2021

I love Silicon Valley type “real” news. I spotted a story called “The 16 Best Ways to Sabotage Your Organization’s Productivity, from a CIA Manual Published in 1944.” What’s interesting about this story is that the US government publication has been in circulation for many years. The write up states:

The “Simple Sabotage Field Manual,” declassified in 2008 and available on the CIA’s website, provided instructions for how everyday people could help the Allies weaken their country by reducing production in factories, offices, and transportation lines. “Some of the instructions seem outdated; others remain surprisingly relevant,” reads the current introduction on the CIA’s site. “Together they are a reminder of how easily productivity and order can be undermined.”

There’s one tiny flaw — well, two actually — in this Silicon Valley type “real” news report.

First, the url provided in the source document is incorrect. To download the document, navigate to this page or use this explicit link: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=750070. We verified both links at 0600, September 13, 2021.

And the second:

The write up did not include the time wasting potential of a Silicon Valley type publication providing incorrect information via a bad link. Mr. Donovan, the author of the document, noted on page 30:

Make mistakes in quantities of material when you’ are copying orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.

Silly? Maybe just another productivity killer from the thumbtyping generation.

Stephen E Arnold, September 13, 2021

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