Anatomy of a System
A numbered research sequence on the visible and invisible architecture of organizations.
Reading Sequence
Organizations Are Not What They Say They Are
If you don't understand that you're running two distinct organizations—the one you designed and the one that actually exists—you're not running either.
The Illusion of Structure
An org chart shows reporting lines. It does not show how power, information, responsibility, and decisions actually move through the system.
The Process Is Not the Procedure
A procedure describes the expected path. A process reveals how work changes state, waits, crosses boundaries, handles exceptions, and learns.
The Weight of a Signature
The signature may coincide with the closure of a decision, arrive earlier, or appear after much of the path has already been committed.
What the System Protects
A behavior can become structurally protected when its benefits remain present in the decision while part of its consequences no longer affects the conditions under which repetition is evaluated.