What is an Organisation? - A beacon for leadership
“Organisation”, or if you wish: “Organization”. We use the word all the time, for instance when referring to where we work, or when explaining what we do, such as Organisation Development, Organisational Change or Leading an Organisation. We are so familiar with the word organisation, that few of us give much thought to what that word actually means, to what an organisation is, or what it ideally ought to be.
This may not seem important, but when you are engaged in Organisation Development, what are you developing? What should an organisation be? How will you know when you have succeeded in developing an organisation, and how do you know that the organisation you strive for not already exists before you start developing it? How can one change or lead an organisation, without knowing what an organisation ought to be? Do you actually work for an organisation?
Certainly, in literature and elsewhere, we find definitions of the word, such as: “a group of people with a common goal”, and to many of us, such a definition is just as good as any other. If we would pause to wonder: “Does an organisation really come into being once we group people based on goal communality?” perhaps many of us would realise that the answer to this question is: “No.” After all, by merely grouping those people nothing is organised yet.
An organisation, any organisation, requires more than just human beings with a common goal. Actually, trying to find enough people with one common goal may even be an unattainable aspiration. Each human being is different from any other. We all have our individual ambitions, dreams, wishes and preferences. Consequently, even if we seemingly work towards one collective purpose, we all have our individual reasons to do so: we all have our own, individual goals. While one may strive for a certain organisational outcome, another may not at all be interested in the organisational outcome, but primarily enjoys the companionship of colleagues, while yet another regards the work as nothing more than a way to earn a living. Yet, all these goals are mutually commensurable and working towards those different, but commensurable individual goals could very well lead to the same results as when all would have worked towards one common goal.
As stated, an organisation can never come about from humans and goals alone. An organisation also needs certain means or tools, as well as procedures telling organisation members who should do what, how, when and so on. Captured in a definition:
An organisation is an ensemble of
human beings, procedures and tools,
aimed at achieving commensurable goals
Obviously, this is a prescriptive definition, not a descriptive definition. Only ideally, organisations meet this prescription. Conversely, one could argue that no assembly qualifies as an organisation, unless it meets this description.
The given definition may not be perfect, but I do like it. What I especially like about it is that it encapsulates just about all possible causes for organisational defects. Most, if not all, organisational defects can be reduced to:
- Humans doing the wrong things;
- Humans doing things wrongly;
- Humans using wrong tools;
- Humans applying means wrongly;
- Directing organisation members' behaviour, tools or procedures towards achieving incommensurable goals;
- A combination of the above.
The word ensemble in this definition is important, since it relates to an organisation’s effectiveness. One should not collect any human beings, tools and procedures, aimed at achieving commensurable goals. Instead, all these aspects should fit together symbiotically, mutually reinforcing their effectiveness in achieving purposed outcomes.
From the given definition, we can also deduce that the ensemble will be affected once change has occurred in an organisation’s goals, in its staff composition or characteristics, in the nature or availability of its tools or its procedures. Consequently, to restore, or preferably maintain the ensemble, any organisational change must adequately address all relevant organisational aspects.
Not only organisation developers, change practitioners, tactical and operational leaders can benefit from the given definition as a guideline. Strategic leadership might also profit from using this definition as a navigational aid, for instance when changing purpose or direction within an existing organisation, by appropriately taking into account possibilities, limitations and adaptability of existing organisation members, tools and procedures. Doing so could help steer an organisation towards achievable goals, instead of towards an obscure future. Ingenious strategy that cannot, or will not be executed properly is, on balance, failed strategy.
Content of this posting is taken from:
Van Someren, R., 2014, Aptitude and Attitude as Constraints and Enablers in Organisation Development: An Elementary Model of Organisational Processes, The Hague, Van Someren, ISBN/EAN: 9789079641086
Van Someren, R., 2016, Fundamentals of Organisations, The Hague, Van Someren, ISBN/EAN: 789079641109
René Van Someren is an independent researcher, consultant and educator. His personal website is: www.rene.vansomeren.org
