Organization as Machine or Complex Adaptive System Organizations as Machine Organization as Living System with a Brain Goals and directions are imposed from outside or Goals and processes to serve those goals emerge above to satisfy organization needs and mission Centralized power authority Decentralized authority distributed power Leaders as authoritarians Leaders promote participatory processes and influence decision making, goals, and means Decisions are made above and communicated as Processes in place for shared decision making instructions to be carried out below Exerting control is primary job of managers Managers promote self‐organizing properties of organization Lines of authority Circles of accountability Employees expected to do as they are told Direct and open communication and feedback views as essential Fixed division of tasks Flexibility of role definitions with overlap When something needs to be fixed, somebody The system adapts and self‐organizes repair and has to fix it restoration Hierarchical supervision 360 ° supervision Detailed rules and regulations Detailed processes, flexible rules Break work down into smallest parts Consideration of the whole Command and control language Language related to living system metaphor – feedback, feelings, thoughts, ideas, movement, growth, future, change, learning Slot to fill, Reengineering, Insubordination, Precision, speed, marching orders, the troops, efficiency, productivity People are hired to operate machine and everyone is expected to behave in a predetermined way People are hired to help improve functioning of the whole organization with specific tasks and responsibilities Machine is owned by someone Can anyone own a living system? Machine doesn’t learn Living systems learn, grow, adapt and evolve Adapted from A. deGeus, The Living Company and G. Morgan, Images of Organization. [2, 7]