If the answer is NO before we actually know that to be true, we're the bureaucracy. If dragging our feet makes us feel powerful, we're the bureaucracy.
When creating roadblocks "because we've always done it that way", we're the bureaucracy.
When we pass along ideas we haven't tested, we're the bureaucracy.
If we only spring into motion when it benefits us directly, we're the bureaucracy.
When we assume better can't be done, we're the bureaucracy.
The greatest antidote to red tape is selflessly disarming impediments to progress that we construct ourselves. Hell, we can't rag on the bureaucracy if we're helping it subsist.
Don't be the bureaucracy.