Robert Shea
Robert Shea
Robert Joseph Sheawas an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In 1986 it won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. Shea went on to write several action novels based in exotic historical settings...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth14 February 1933
CountryUnited States of America
I think there may be ways to tame the organizational beast, though I have hardly room in this essay to do more than suggest that such means exist.
Individuals, too, who cultivate a variety of skills seem brighter, more energetic and more adaptable than those who know how to do one thing only.
A permanent division of labor inevitably creates occupational and class inequality and conflict.
The key element in tragedy is that heroes and heroines are destroyed by that which appears to be their greatest strength.
Ultimately we may still ask, why can't humans design a perfect society?
But the more an organization succeeds and prospers, the more it is likely to be diverted from its original ideals, principles and purposes.
Of all human inventions the organization, a machine constructed of people performing interdependent functions, is the most powerful.
Because the better an organization is at fulfilling its purpose, the more it attracts people who see the organization as an opportunity to advance themselves.
Even while we busily attend meetings, contribute money and perform our assigned tasks, we suspect that we may be helping to create a force that is inimical to many values we hold dear.
One simple way to keep organizations from becoming cancerous might be to rotate all jobs on a regular, frequent and mandatory basis, including the leadership positions.
Just as predatory animals follow a similar general design and behave in similar ways, so organizations, especially those in competition with one another, must follow certain design principles if they are to succeed and prevail.
It is instructive, for instance, to trace the computer industry's decline in vision, idealism, creativity, romance and sheer fun as it becomes more and more important and prosperous.
This whole phenomenon of the diversion of organizations from their purposes and ideals does not seem very serious when the scum rise to the top in the bridge club or the offices of a small magazine publisher.