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“How power is distributed has a primary role in defining culture.” This is the single most important statement in the article. Being conscious of the power str

by mempko 12y ago

“How power is distributed has a primary role in defining culture.” This is the single most important statement in the article. Being conscious of the power structures is critical in understanding an organization and how it functions. Most power structures are not legitimate and we unfortunately placate to them as though they are. Unfortunately most people spend their day in a totalitarian type organizational structure where they have orders barked to them. Even in the tech world. We need to start asking ourselves if we prefer to live most of our lives in totalitarian organizations getting orders barked at us.

wpietri 12y ago
What amazes me about this point (which should be obvious) is how hard it is for people to even recognize power dynamics. It's so deeply baked in to our culture (and probably our brains) that it's easy to miss. For my fellow nerds who have trouble spotting it, de Waal's "Chimpanzee Politics" is a good book showing power in our near relatives. For understanding it in humans, various books on body language were useful to me, as were some theater books, including the status transactions section in Johnstone's "Impro". More directly related to mempko's point, I'm also really enjoying "Confronting Managerialism", which basically claims that American business culture has relatively little to do with creating effective businesses, and a lot to do with creating a caste system with managers and executives on top.
ryanpardieck 12y ago
What are the worthwhile alternatives? I used to think along these lines, but anymore I'm not as sure. I think there can be advantages to the traditional structure, and I'm not sure the more bottom-up structures bring enough concrete benefit. I think maybe it can become a kind of "we are so enlightened" exercise in back-patting. But I'm always waiting to be convinced back to the other way of thinking ....

by mempko 12y ago

wpietri 12y ago

What amazes me about this point (which should be obvious) is how hard it is for people to even recognize power dynamics. It's so deeply baked in to our culture (and probably our brains) that it's easy to miss. For my fellow nerds who have trouble spotting it, de Waal's "Chimpanzee Politics" is a good book showing power in our near relatives. For understanding it in humans, various books on body language were useful to me, as were some theater books, including the status transactions section in Johnstone's "Impro". More directly related to mempko's point, I'm also really enjoying "Confronting Managerialism", which basically claims that American business culture has relatively little to do with creating effective businesses, and a lot to do with creating a caste system with managers and executives on top.

ryanpardieck 12y ago

What are the worthwhile alternatives? I used to think along these lines, but anymore I'm not as sure. I think there can be advantages to the traditional structure, and I'm not sure the more bottom-up structures bring enough concrete benefit. I think maybe it can become a kind of "we are so enlightened" exercise in back-patting. But I'm always waiting to be convinced back to the other way of thinking ....