This is really a key problem in management.
Granted, in some situations, people may be pretty replaceable. If the cashier at Burger King just refuses to perform a task, you can fire them and get another cashier. As the article states “I’ll Just Fire Them” is the go-to solution for some folks.
But that is not applicable in so many cases. If you have a basically competent employee who simply refuses to send in status reports, how do you make them send in status reports? Are you going to fire them over that? How replaceable is this employee? Probably not that replaceable.
Managing people through fear doesn’t work.
Getting people to do things they don’t want to do is tricky.
It’s hard in business.
It’s harder in politics.
Which is why a lot of politicians would like to manage people through violence. It makes things easier.
And that’s basically why we have the Second Amendment. Because the Founders understood that your overlord is likely to try and govern through violence if they think they can get away with it.
That's one factor.
Another is that history shows — even recent history — that otherwise fairly normal people will do almost anything to keep a cushy job they know they can't get on their merits in the open market, including leaving innocent people to rot for years in prison, letting people die by inaction, or even murdering people.
There are numerous crime videos on YT about people who murdered wives, husbands, and children for an insurance payout in the low- to mid-six-figure range.
Christopher Watts murdered his wife and two little girls last August (2018) for no reason other than he had the hots for a younger model who was willing to have lots of sex with him.
Someone with that sort of morality in a high government position can really do a lot of damage. And there are a great many people who operate at that level. I don't think it's a majority, but it's a substantial minority.
Actually, I fired very few people in my career. I set up the requirements for the job they would be doing, and if they didn’t measure up, they fired themselves.
“If you have a basically competent employee who simply refuses to send in status reports, how do you make them send in status reports? Are you going to fire them over that?”
Is there an issue with the employee being unable to produce the report, or are they simply unwilling to do it?
Are the status reports necessary or are they just reports?
Can the report production be automated?
Can the report be assigned to another employee?
If the report is essential for the business, it gets produced or people get fired.
“Basically Competent” is a pretty low bar. Hire better people, or automate.