Images of organization

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1. lemonwaterlimeOct 2024
   Historically, threads from systems theory via Jay W. Forrester (“Industrial Dynamics”) and organizational psychology via Gareth Morgan (“Images of Organization”) are good places to start. You can then trace them to more modern treatments for insights.
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2. drc500freeJul 2023
   A good exploration of these metaphors is Gareth Morgan's Images of Organization[1] . To your point, my personal favorite is "Organization as Psychic Prison" - not in the sense of keeping physically curtailed, but in the sense that it is hard for workers to break out of the memes and processes of an administrative organization. A good summary is here[2]:

   1. Machine: an organization is a series of connected parts arranged in a logical order in order to produce a repeatable output

   2. Organism: an organization is a collective response to its environment and, to survive, must adapt as the environment changes

   3. Brain: an organization is a set of functions designed to process information and learn over time

   4. Cultural System: an organization is a mini-society, with its own culture and subcultures defined by their values, norms, beliefs, and rituals

   5. Political System: an organization is a game of gaining, influencing, and coordinating power

   6. Psychic Prison: an organization is a collection of myths and stories that restrict people’s thoughts, ideas, and actions

   7. Instrument of Domination: an organization is a means to impose one’s will on others and exploit resources for personal gains

   8. Flux and Transformation: an organization is an ever-changing system indivisible from its environment

   [1] https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/196016

   [2] https://academy.nobl.io/gareth-morgan-organizational-metapho...

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3. spicyusernameDec 2021
   Images of Organization by Garth Morgan.

   I went in expecting a somewhat fluffy business book, but it is nothing of the sort. Every page is full of interesting anecdotes, analogies, and insights around not just corporate life, but life in general.

   It was way more thorough and academic than I expected, very highly recommend it.

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4. fg6hrJan 2020
   Rather than studying how to be a good doormat (oh, I meant, how to master the behavioral interviews), it's a much better use of time to read the G. Morgan's "Images of Organization".
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5. davidivadavidJan 2020
   My favorite read on the topic: Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Images_of_Organization

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6. NomentatusNov 2017
   It's hard to find books about ethical behavior, except maybe good behavior in extremis. Man bites dog is a story, not the other way 'round, after all. And "dog nicely licks hand" is certainly not a story. I have a lot of books, and I wonder if I could find five that don't discuss unethical behavior if only as counterexample illustrations. Certainly no novels that don't.

   Among the best though: Barbarians at the Gate, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, most books concerning the history of medicine and any Trump biography published after he leaves office, no doubt. Any Jobs biography. The story of NeXT - his European head committed fraud that brought the company down.

   Years ago I read an excellent biography of John D. MacArthur, the Insurance giant that would suit you well. Famous now for the "Genius Grants" given out by the MacArthur Fellows Program. John D. Rockefeller (who would argue his own virtues, of course.) Wolf of Wall Street.

   On my list to read:

   Images of organization Paperback – Jan 1997 by Gareth Morgan (Author) https://www.amazon.ca/Images-organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/0...

   The Organization Man by William H. Whyte http://a.co/2kRfJHA

   The above 2 books said to be consistent with The Gervais Principle:

   https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

   Plus The Prince of War: Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire by Cecil Bothwell http://a.co/17NKkDg

   and

   MOTHER TERESA: The Untold Story by Aroup Chatterjee http://a.co/hqumhdA

   Plus a small pile of (contemporary) books about slavery, and slavery as a business, most in the public domain, now.

   One problem you might encounter is that sociopaths often do very well in business, but are not always interesting in a story-sense because their self-concern is so predictable. Mere lack of empathy isn't a motive, so wrapping a detailed story around that is pretty hard.

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