Monday, September 07, 2009

John's Law of Social Organization

The primary purpose of any hierarchical organization is to serve the desires of those at the top of the hierarchy.

"Well, duh, John. What's your next discovery -- that water is wet?" Yes, it should be obvious. But I am a somewhat slow-witted person, so it takes me a while to grasp such concepts.

This principle applies to any and all hierarchical organizations, for they are filled with people, and greed is a constant in humanity. So any mission statement or formally-espoused goals should be taken as a distraction from the actual purpose, which is stated above. And you should make any decisions related to organizations with an awareness of this fact.

It's not always necessary to pretend to support the mission of the organization. For example, I openly state to my employer that sole motivator is financial gain (within certain ethical parameters). So as long as I do my job well, this isn't a problem. I'm not expected to adhere to an ideology for my paycheck; I'm expected to do my job well. And I do, so I get my paycheck.

Other people may not be so fortunate and may be pressured to give lip service to some more lofty quest. Do so. Just remember to not believe it.

3 comments:

Craig L. Adams said...

Thanks. Yes. I'll bear that in mind.

Divers and Sundry said...

So many who are not at the top and have no hope of ever getting to the top seem willing, even eager, to sacrifice in the service of the organization. They must believe in the quest/mission/goal. The quest/mission/goal might be better served by undoing the current hierarchical system and exploring more cooperative ways of working together towards the common goals.

John said...

D & S wrote:

The quest/mission/goal might be better served by undoing the current hierarchical system and exploring more cooperative ways of working together towards the common goals.


I think that an "every man for himself" approach would be more successful.