by Morley Evans
ORGANIZATIONS HAVE A LIFE OF THEIR OWN.
Organizations live and die like biological organisms. People are to organizations what cells are to organisms. Organizations live when income exceeds outgo. Organizations die when outgo exceeds income. Organizations serve a purpose. They do something people want them to do. They are based upon an idea (usually one). When people no longer buy what the organization sells, the organization goes out of business.
Because organizations act as if they are controlled by someone unseen, someone who apparently controls the people who are nominally running the organization, one might conclude that someone "behind the curtain" is really running things. And there might be someone "behind the curtain." There probably is someone behind the curtain. Secret societies and secret governments do exist. No one can deny that the average person in any democracy has less influence than the most powerful, yet each person has a vote.
However, the interests of the organization can exceed the interests of even the most powerful individuals. The most powerful may come and go, even those behind the curtain, but the organization can live on, generation after generation. This can suggest that someone, or something, is controlling everything. What is this phantom controller? It is the reality that organizations have lives of their own.
Adam Smith called this phenomenon, as it relates to the marketplace, the invisible hand. Organizations are part of this, but they are more.
Organizations have their own personalities and cultures that are created by the people who contribute to the organizations while the organizations contribute to the individuals themselves. Organizations are as crudely represented by the "organization chart" as families are represented by their "family tree" and countries are described by the "civics class". These are helpful, but insufficient explanations.
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| Duchess of Cambridge shakes hands greeting the crowd in Canada Photo: AP |
Currently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are touring Canada on their honeymoon. It is vitally important that Canadians love them and support the monarchy and the State. Otherwise, both the monarchy and the State are out of business. The British monarchy is one of the world's longest-lasting institutions, stretching back into the past over a thousand years. The monarchy has a life of its own. The current job of the so-called Royals is to be popular. They must be always running for office. Kate Middleton, who has become the Duchess of Cambridge with her marriage to Prince William one day will become the Queen of England. She is an excellent example of an individual being moulded by an institution. Queen Elizabeth II is an even better example. They each also contribute to the organizations of the monarchy and the State they represent.
Louis XIV could say "l'etat, c'est moi" whereas Louis XVI could not. Force alone cannot sustain an institution as Muammar Gaddafi is currently learning. Power and popularity go hand-in-glove (or mailed fist). Behind the smiles and warm feelings many Canadians have for the monarchy is the real business of the State and the monarchy which is bombing the shit out of wogs. Prince Harry, Prince William's younger brother, will be returning to Afghanistan to engage again in the family business.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/16/prince-harry-service-afghanistan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/28/military.afghanistan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_monarchs
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