Organizations are like Mr Hide and Dr Jekyll. There is always the rational face and the irrational face of the organizational, all in one.
The rational organization is all about logic. It starts with a vision supported by fact-based analysis, it translates into a strategy and an organization down to into plans and processes. It’s all articulated, logical, and aligned. It’s about concepts, plans, methods and tools.
The irrational side of the same organization is quite different. It’s all about politics and psychology, power struggles and territorial disputes, pride and prejudice, and even sex (sometimes). It’s about friends and foes, ambitions and clash of ambitions. It’s about tears and sweat. In short, it’s about humans.
The two dimensions always exist, but not in the same proportion. in some organizations the rational dimension prevails. These organizations are very well organized, strategies are spelled out, job descriptions are up-to-date, business processes are everywhere, etc. The organization is a perfectly oiled machine, and there is not much room for political games or structural emotional unrest. People know what they have to do, where they belong, the rule of law prevails, those who play political games are excluded because there is no need and no room for political intrigues.
In other organizations, it’s just the opposite. It’s all about politics and backdoor diplomacy. It’s all about clans, hidden agenda and feudalism. It’s all about stabbing in the back, seducing, and being on the right place at the right time. There may be a document called “strategy” somewhere, but nobody cares. Policies, if they exist, are nothing more than wishful thinking, and the organizational chart is chaotic. People who care for those things are seen as futureless paper-pushers. These are not places for emotionless technocrats or for managerially correct executives, but a place for warlords and courtisans.
There may be all sorts of variations between these two faces of the organization. Some organizations look like they are the rational type and have the full display of vision, strategy, values, processes and so forth, but when you scratch below the surface. it’s completely political and emotional. Some organizations may look totally chaotic and lawless, but things are actually working well and despite its apparent madness the system is effective and predictable.
The important thing, however, is to know the rules of the game. “Logical idealism” is a mistake that many young professionals do (as I did). They think that rationality and logic are the drivers of organizations, and are blind to the real power game that actually sets things up.
Young and naïve managers are not the only victims of logical idealism. Many consultants also suffer from it. They believe that a strategic vision, organizational charts, business processes and action plans are the remedies to all organizational diseases. As we all have experienced, they are not. Growing as a consultant means to grow in the awareness of the double identity of organizations (and individuals), and to learn to swim effectively into this double reality.
Antoine Henry de Frahan
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