Chicken Shit

1.  Contemptibly petty or insignificant. For example, He has spent his life making up chicken shit rules that nobody follows anyway. This expression gained currency during World War II, when it was often applied to the enforcement of petty and disagreeable military regulations. [Vulgar slang; c. 1930]
2.  Cowardly, as in You're not too chicken shit to come along, are you? [Vulgar slang; mid-1940s]

Stupid and petty stuff usually directed by someone of more rank or authority.