ESSAYS
PREFACE
Essays will be posted from time to time, some taken from oft-quoted speeches, some from the book, Birth of the Chaordic Age, and some newly published. All were formulated and appeared in slightly different form during the last quarter of the twentieth century. They are intended for new readers, as well as those wishing to find a familiar quote in original context. To the extent possible, oft-quoted phrases will be highlighted.
The essays will not appear in any particular order. Although each was written to stand alone, all are deeply interrelated and can best be understood in concert with the others. All arose from a lifelong search for the answer to three questions.
Why are organizations everywhere, whether political, commercial or social, increasingly unable to manage their affairs?
Why are people, everywhere, increasingly alienated from, and in conflict with, the organizations of which they are part?
Why are society and the biosphere increasingly in disarray?
Searching for the answers required trying to master four ways of looking at things: As they were, as they are, as they might become, and as they ought to be. Each essay will be from one or more of those perspectives. On the whole, they are primarily concerned with the future, with how things ought to be.
They appear in the following order;
THE GLOBAL EPIDEMIC OF INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE
MANAGING, LEADING AND FOLLOWING
DESIRE FOR CERTAINTY AND CONTROL
THE NATURE AND REALITY OF ORGANIZATIONS
CORPORATIONS; THE SOCIALIZATION OF COST, AND CAPITALIZATION OF PROFIT
COMMUNITY AND THE EXCHANGE OF VALUE
THE CAPACITY TO RECEIVE, UTILIZE, STORE, TRANSFORM, AND TRANSMIT INFORMATION
INVERSION OF VALUE OF PHYSICAL TO VALUE OF MENTAL CONTENT OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES