"This project failed because of process and bureaucracy"......Really? What do people mean when they say that?

Bureaucracy is a way to make sure that nobody can be held responsible for anything.

So if a project failed because of bureaucracy, that's because nobody "owned" it.

I remember working with a bank many years ago that had just suffered a major fraud. It was making international headlines. Someone in the compliance team told me that the reason it happened is because the person responsible knew the process and were therefore able to defraud the bank using this knowledge.

Just let that sink in for a second.

It had nothing to do with the fact that no one else knew, or understood the process, so that they could put mitigating controls in place. Their ability to protect the bank, it's investors and customers failed because of a lack of process.