An Octopus.
The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment, every sin already carries grace in it.— Hermann Hesse
Karl E. Weick — an organizational theorist and psychologist who brought us a criminally underrated sensemaking theory — described an organization as ‘garrulous, clumsy, superstitious, hypocritical, monstrous, octopoid, wandering, and grouchy.’
The interesting part here is not a seemingly odd string of out-of-the-ordinary attributes and adjectives not normally associated with management. It is that Weick described — in this admittedly peculiar way — the organizations that are in fact effective.
It’s a compliment, not an insult.
Garrulous. Filled with constant chatter and communication, largely on trivial matters. Never silent, always full of interactions, rumors, gossiping. Overflowing with corridor and cafeteria commentary on official propaganda and unfolding events.
Clumsy. Error-prone and inefficient. Awkward in movement or in handling things. Fumbling decisions and stumbling into unintended consequences.
Get Jacek Pastuszka’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Superstitious. Relying on rituals, symbols, unverifiable narratives, and comforting myths. Corporate theater that is frowned upon but holds things together. Tests or pilots that prove nothing, but must be carried out as justification for decisions already made.
Hypocritical. Saying one thing, doing another. Operating with ambiguity between stated values and messy realities. Not overly attached to what was claimed or declared before, and thus ready to do a 180 on a dime.
Monstrous. Complex, ugly, and terrifyingly overwhelming. Powerful, opaque, or simply beyond full control. Things happen, and it’s hard to say why or who made a call.
Octopoid. Multitasking in a semi-independent way. Trying to get it under control is like trying to put an octopus to bed in the evening. And then, putting socks on it in the morning. Forget the ‘cat herding’ metaphor.
Wandering. Drifting, shifting, lacking fixed direction, responding to unfolding events rather than following rigid plans. Giving only enough lip service to the officially stated strategies to avoid offending and angering their authors.
Grouchy. Irritable, grumpy, moaning, always complaining. Often resistant, defensive, and slow to adapt emotionally despite rhetoric of alignment. Alternating between overt, insincere flattery and covert, unjustified criticism — with overriding attitude of superiority.
That’s how effective organizations — and we who make them — often are. Not broken or imperfect, but complex and lively. Constantly making sense of ambiguity through human attentiveness and social interaction.
Their sins carry grace.
