The curse of the command structure

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The curse of the command structure

This concept is the reason for this blog.

The basic insight I want people to look at and discuss is that all large organisations are built around a pyramid shaped power or command structure, but command structures are NOT communication networks. Discuss? Hey, prove it wrong if you can!

"Hierarchy of authority" is a more fluffy way of saying command structure. This means that each person in the organisation officially reports to just one direct superior but that each person above the very base level may have one or more people who report to him or her. This is true of armies, monasteries, government agencies, commercial and industrial firms and corporations, and educational institutions. "Old news" you might say, but "hierarchy of authority" misses the deep problem.

The deep problem is that communication - I mean real communication - is a two-way process, and bureaucratic command structures do NOT function well, if at all, as channels for the two way, equal to equal, interchange which is essential for real communication to occur.

3 comments:

GayeApril 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I agree but what can be done about it? There has been a lot of thought given to this in the 20th century - e.g.Freire on education and Foucault on institutional power structure - but their basic premises are lost even on those who quote them.
I believe we to get more balance - a shift from the current pervasive individualism towards a moderate collectivism.
We have surged ahead in communication technology and, although many are crying foul,it still may provide some of the answers as the oppressed are given the means to voice opinions.
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Mark PeatyApril 18, 2009 at 1:42 AM
Yes Gaye, I agree - particularly with the liberating effect or communication technology coming into the hands of ever increasing numbers of people.

The way I see it, communication takes place in networks and is mostly a two-way process between individuals. [I started a rave about this on my website, but I don't think anybody looks at that.] It was Paulo Freire who first really helped me to understand about the creative nature of communication. But it also took years of reading up on modern ideas, research and discussions about brains, mind, and consciousness for me to really appreciate the underlying processes.

I think the key point is that communication is a process of learning and all learning involves the brain creating - that is "constructing" - the new concepts and awareness. A person providing new information or skills to another, cannot know if the other has understood or really learned the new behaviour unless she tests the learner's knowledge. Likewise the learner cannot know if she has really got the point or process unless she tests the provider for agreement.

As far as I can see this is always true.

So my proposal - "my answer" - for the gigantic problem posed by the dysfunction of command structures and the stressful disempowerment they cause is *networks*. Bureaucratic command structures are intrinsically destructive of human values unless spontaneous and largely autonomous networking is not only allowed but encouraged.
Mark Peaty aka xodarap
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Mark PeatyNovember 21, 2010 at 11:20 PM
"... intrinsically destructive of human values..." means the same as "soul destroying".

This does not refer to anything supernatural of course, just that the imposition of authoritarian control suppresses empathy and deprives workers of autonomy. However both of these are needed for creative problem solving and the maintenance of self respect. Authoritarian command structures naturally predispose their employees/officers to act like this which results in the organisation evolving into a dysfunctional mode. This becomes self-perpetuating unless conscious efforts to counteract it are made by everybody in the organisation. The word 'toxic' aptly describes what it can fell like under such a regime.

It ought to be fairly obvious that successful self-repair or 'healing' of an organisation can only occur if enough people acknowledge the truth of what has been happening. Those in the highest positions of an organisation need to take the lead in telling the truth, and in Plain English too! Unfortunately tyrant solipsism can make it almost impossible for high level honchos to recognise the truth about their part of the organisation. Certainly, the Sausage Factory suffers from this problem, particularly in relation to customer queries about where their particular sausage meat contributions have got to and whether or not they will get any of it back. The problem can become like the proverbial "Elephant in the room" which nobody wants to talk about but which is gradually squashing everybody to death.

Karl Popper and Norman D Dixon have provided a theoretical framework for understanding the underlying logic of authoritarian dysfunction. What a pity that nobody in The Sausage Factory has heard of either of them! [So much for the promises of the 21Century.]
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Add comment

A command structure is NOT a communication network.

Command structures have been around since warriors started making themselves into kings. There are many issues, and opinions can be discussed about all that.

Politely expressed thoughts and opinions on the subject are welcome here.

My main concern here is that we now live in the modern era, a new time in human history, indeed a radically new stage in human evolution. My contention is that command structures have always provided mixed blessings. The stability and security made possible by the imposition of laws and ideology of a ruling class has allowed many societies to develop in complexity and influence; "civilisation" was possible but at considerable cost.

Command structures accrue greatest benefits to those giving the commands. Throughout history command structures have served primarily as systems of control with surplus value being channelled up the hierarchies while costs associated with the creation of value were pushed down the hierarchies and out into the rest of the society and the ecology.

This, broadly speaking, has been the way of things since the advent of agriculture and the complex, class societies which it supported. For reasons which we can discuss - if anyone dares - class societies are intrinsically unstable in the long term unless they have entrenched democratic institutions and behaviours. They always succumb to civil strife and insurrection or else warfare perpetrated on neighbours and victims further afield.

The advent of scientific method is what has created the modern era. The application of scientific method and the fruits of its discoveries have put enormous power into the hands of modern people - into the hands of the "haves" anyway. This incredible transformation has only just begun really, we ain't seen nothing yet!

One of the biggest consequences of this change is that most of our old ways of doing things have to be adjusted to deal with the new kinds of situations we can find ourselves in. This can be simple and obvious but heartbreakingly traumatic for many. One example is that everybody in the world now has to use money for at least some of the important tasks of life, and most of us have to use money for nearly everything. The negative side of this is that most of us cannot decree what money is so we are constrained by the dictates of bankers, economists, entrepreneurs and politicians who often have very archaic and outmoded ideas about truth and value.

I think the economic disaster which became manifest through 2008,, and has continued so far through 2009 is clear evidence that capitalist gurus and pundits are nearly as blind and wilfully dysfunctional as the socialists they so often jeer at. A PLAGUE ON ALL THEIR HOUSES!! that's what I say!.

I believe that, if we want our species to survive, there are four fundamental ingredients necessary for sustaining civilisation in the modern era:
Compassion
Democracy
Ethics
Scientific method.

The pleasant side to this realisation is that none of this is "rocket science". When you start looking quite closely into many of the things that have been discovered about human beings, the natural environment, and about things we can make, it turns out that there is vast potential to improve the lives of everybody on the planet and have enormous fun in the process!

DAYTIME - day job or destiny?

Thursday, April 16, 2009