1. > Don't organiztions have some sort of built in organic clock that
governs
> its unfolding in a natural way?
Birren says
" To "unfold" an organization "in a natural
way" requires a dialogue between those who know the culture and processes
(internal view) and those who know the environment (external view);
together they form the "organic clock". "
There are, it seems to me, some other important components of the "organic
clock". These include, in no particular order, things like:
1) cycle time: it takes some auto manufacturers 3 years to design and
produce a new car and others do it in under two years. Each company (and
probably unit within a company) will operate on a distinctive clock for
getting things done.
2) Product life time: products have very different life times. Some canoe
models have been selling well for many decades, car models last a few
years, and computer models are supplanted about every fifteen minutes, it
seems.
3) the rate of technological change within a given industry. Railroads
are substantially different from computer manufacturers, for exmple.
4) The rate at which things flow thru the plant from raw material to
finished product. This seems to me to be a measure of the metabolism rate
for the plant.
These things, and probably others I haven't thought of, impose some
"natural" rhythms on the organizaaation. And here is where I differ with
Birren - we ignore these things at our peril. My answer is that the Tao is
critical but that figuring it out is tough.
-- Barry Clemson Center for Organizational Systems Engineering Old Dominion University bclemson@aol.com