2 ms·
I think the evolution of organizations is super interesting stuff. But I would say that a lot of the paradigms that have been true for Millenia have changed rap
by oceanplexian 5y ago
I think the evolution of organizations is super interesting stuff. But I would say that a lot of the paradigms that have been true for Millenia have changed rapidly in the last few decades, which is an extremely short period of time in the history of our social evolution. For example:
(1) 100 years ago we didn't have reliable instant communication. If you wanted to send a message across oceans it could take days or weeks. As a result having a "chain of command" was critically important to survival. For example a military commander prior to the 20th century could not make decisions regarding an army thousands of miles away, and thus needed to delegate decision making authority. In 2021 a military commander (Or leader) can instantly make a decision from thousands of miles away. Or perhaps a computer could make those decisions instead.
(2) Data-driven decision making the name of the game in most large corporations. The dinosaurs are still making decisions based on reports every week/month/quarter. The most cutting edge organizations are operating on a different level. For example, if a particular product or service isn't performing at a certain price, you don't need a bureaucracy to optimize it. Automated software could easily A/B test pricing schemes in different regions, and come up with the most optimized conclusions, all without any humans in the loop. Ride-share software and food delivery apps are already ahead of the curve here, and like it or not, this outsources a lot of people in the business of decision making.
Not to go too far down a rabbit hole, but I think that "bureaucracy ... as a gene for a successful organization" may be a gene that soon goes extinct. Computers, data, and software can do bureaucracy much better than humans can. And if the trend continues we may see the entire structure of organizations, leadership, and decision making make a complete shift from what we even expect an organization to be, possibly closer to resembling cybernetic organism rather than a government or traditional corporate leadership structure.