Hybrid outline now shows some of what the intro looks like while maintaining that dry, somnolent aspect toward the end. Stuff at the beginning kind of reads like a first draft. Stuff at the end is mere detritus.
Also, and I am pretty self-conscious about this, please keep sending story ideas. You can see below that I am using Ozzy Osbourne’s family as a beginning to define organizations. I would prefer something a little more jarring and current than a canceled television show about a guy that eats bats. It’s a placeholder right now. Don’t make me use it.
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Part One: xxx
Chapter One: Pirates, Prisons, and the Organizational Striptease: Introducing the Organization
Humankind’s most complex invention
Chapter Two: Traffic Jams, Tribes, and Atoms: Ways of Understanding Organizations
From Hunter-Gatherer to Human Resources: Where Do Organizations Come From?
Splitting atoms and modeling organizations (Part One and Part Two)
Mobile homes and motorboats: the far-reaching effects of organizations
Chapter Three: Kaleidoscope: The Many Theories of Organizations
Chapter Four: Decision points: Analyzing, Predicting, and Influencing the Behavior of Organizations (Quetelet)
B. How are decisions made?
C. Organizational learning in decisions
D. Pre/post: prism/stargate/pane of glass
E. Consequences and antecedents: going upstream and downstream
F. Inflection point/punctuated equilibrium
Part Two: Analysis and Prediction
X. Tools of Analysis
1. Tangible tip of a socially constructed iceberg
2. Analysis without access
3. Possible elementsa. Org charts
b. CVs
c. Annual reports
d. Audits/investigations
e. News
f. Metaphors
B. Analysis after the fact: history
1. Organizational forensics
C. Analysis before the fact: prediction
Part Three: Patterns of Organizations in Decision-Making
A. Groupthink (explanation) (example) (criteria)
B. Abilene Paradox and Organizational Silence {summary here}
Chapter X: The Law of Unintended Consequences
The iPhone, the ROKR, and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Viagra, traffic cameras, and covertly intended consequences (Part One and Part Two)
Part Four: A New Level of Thinking
Pingback: Progress Notes 23Jan2008 « PublicOrgTheory
Re current stories to exemplify organisations, how about…
gang culture – orgs and governments are just like big gangs, with hierarchies and their own perspective on what constitutes a good time
bacteria and flu viruses – very well organised bunch
tweet deck
ps alfie kohn has some interesting ideas on pay / reward schemes and how they don’t improve corporate performance in the long term. given that you seem to be suggesting we reframe how we think about orgs, what about a section on what are the driving motivations behind orgs?