> Organisation's grow and die in different cycles. There is the start-up,
> full = of life and energy. There is the maturing phase where things
> become routine = and bureaucratic. Then there is the death cycle where
> the organisation goes = out of business.=20
>
> For organisations to stay in business over a long period of time, they
> must = find a way of shifting out of the bureaucratic phase back into
> the startup = phase. Otherwise, they'll die. (I'm sure someone has
> written about this, = sure would like some pointers to references :->).
John,
The metaphor you're using is explicitly ecological. And yes, there is a
work whose main premise and arguments fit your description almost exactly.
It is called "Crisis and Renewal: meeting the challenge of organizational
change" (Harvard University Press, 1995) by David Hurst, incidentally a
member of this list. He draws on examples ranging from modern companies to
the bushmen of the Kalahari in order to make his points. I'm sure you'll
find it to be an interesting read. I did.
If you can't find the book in Australia, you might try contacting David
personally at (dhurst1046@aol.com). Good luck and G'day!
------------------------------------------------------ Joe Katzman, MBA Communications And Technology (C.A.T.) Consulting "The more you know, the more you can imagine." Phone: (416) 502-2223 joe@embanet.com Fax: (416) 397-4079 ----------------------------------------------------
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>