18 November

Mark Twain said history may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme. Modern companies and organisations have so much in common with much older organisational forms. I did a fantastic course on organisational forms and history with a theologian about 25 years ago, we really don't understand so much about the lives we live at work. Take the Royal Court, where everything was codified according to status and position and title. There wasn't much interest in what any of these people did, only in the hierarchy. Modern companies often have exactly the same form. Their 'business model' is really just their org structure, there isn't a model as such, everything gets processed through the org structure. This generates huge numbers of meetings, as in the absence of a business model all that's left is constant negotiation between the Lords, Ladies and King about what to do next, and who should be in charge for each bit.