{"id":2519,"date":"2016-03-01T17:07:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mytwostotinki.com\/?p=2519"},"modified":"2016-03-01T17:07:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:07:05","slug":"sociology-of-organizations-a-kind-of-manual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mytwostotinki.com\/?p=2519","title":{"rendered":"Sociology of organizations – a (kind of) manual"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I was asked by a friend with an interest in sociology of organizations if I could suggest to him a good book on this topic (obviously he thought that my working experience in a comparatively big variety of organizations and countries made me a kind of expert regarding that matter).<\/strong><\/p>\n

After some consideration, I suggested to him not a scientific book, but a work of fiction. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In my opinion,\u00a0Catch-22<\/em> by Joseph Heller contains (among many other things) everything you need to know about how any big organization, institution, or corporation works. And I can assure you, none of the absurd situations in the book are unrealistic or exaggerated.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

An example:\u00a0General Peckem (sic) assigns Colonel\u00a0Scheisskopf (a word that means “shithead” in German) to write letters\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cto let everyone know how good we are and how much work we\u2019re turning out.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scheisskopf’s answer that he doesn’t know a thing about writing is receiving the following retort:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t let that trouble you,\u201d General Peckem continued with a careless flick of his wrist. \u201cJust pass the work I assign you along to somebody else and trust to luck. We call that delegation of responsibility. Somewhere down near the lowest level of this coordinated organization I run are people who do get the work done when it reaches them, and everything manages to run along smoothly without too much effort on my part. I suppose that\u2019s because I am a good executive. \u00a0Nothing we do in this large department of ours is really very important, and there\u2019s never any rush. On the other hand, it is important that we let people know we do a great deal of it. Let me know if you find yourself shorthanded. I\u2019ve already put in a requisition for two majors, four captains and sixteen lieutenants to give you a hand. While none of the work we do is very important, it is important that we do a great deal of it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trust me, this is all you need to know about the sociology of organizations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joseph Heller: Catch-22, Simon & Schuster<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9 <\/strong>Thomas H\u00fcbner\u00a0and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and\/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog\u2019s author and\/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas H\u00fcbner\u00a0and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.<\/strong><\/pre>\n
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