Troublemaker Tactics: Hoopla Hurdles Edition

As the holiday long weekend comes to a close, one can be assured that not all celebrations went off as planned. Family get-togethers can be precarious. The long histories, the past grievances, the careless gestures or phrases can all contribute to a combustible mix. Sometimes tensions bubble up simply because people’s lives are busy, or a shift in circumstance generates unexpected demands. And then sometimes there is a troublemaker in the crowd.

Unhappy people want to drag every one around them into the muck. And a common strategy is to fabricate irrelevant procedures, standards, or hoops to impose on others, then criticize them for not meeting those arbitrary demands. This tactic shifts focus from substantive issues to compliance with a contrived process. It’s like building up a whole hoopla by setting up hurdles.

Some of these tactics are well known and used through many facets of life. Take moving the goal posts. As soon as someone deserves congratulations, some new expectation is placed upon them diminishing their accomplishment. There’s gatekeeping. A self appointed czar controls access to a group, idea or status. Bureaucratic tyranny causes delays and the classic red herring gets everyone off the topic and into some other pernicious yet irrelevant topic.

To sum it all up in a definition:

Hoopla Hurdles (n): The tactic of fabricating irrelevant procedures, rules, or requirements to avoid addressing real issues, maintain control, and generate conflict. Named for the endless, pointless hoops troublemakers make others jump through.

If you are curious as to whether the obstacles at hand are legit or Hoopla Hurdles, consider these diagnostic questions:

1. Was this rule just invented?

2. Does it solve the actual problem?

3. Would a reasonable person demand this?

4. Does it create more conflict than it resolves?

If 3+ yes → Hoopla Hurdles detected!

What you can do to placate the beast in the damaged person who would prefer to fight rather than befriend.