o actually

e changed the

.~tails.

Introduction: A Missing

Piece

Everyone in this society lives and works in some kind of

organization, group, or system. Beginning with the family,

moving into the school, the workplace, clubs, and civic or-

ganizations, most of us spend the majority of our lives

within organizations or relating to organizations. In fact, in

this society the person who cannot function organization-

ally is handicapped. We need to understand every aspect of

organizational life. Moreover, a broadly focused book on

organizations is needed, a book that will be read by corpo-

rate executives, entrepreneurs, and the members of volun-

teer groups and social and professional clubs alike. We saw

the need for a book that will "name" our experience in

organizations at all levels.

Even though there is a plethora of books about organiza-

tions and corporate life and millions of dollars each year are

spent on consultants and packages designed to "fix up" what

is wrong with organizations, corporations continue to search

desperately for models that will reverse a slipping economy

and enliven a poorly producing work force. Individuals look

forward to weekends so that they can recover from their

"crazy-making" experiences at work only to find that they

must face the same dynamics on Monday. Often, persons

who come from dysfunctional families find their organiza-

tions repeating the same patterns they learned in their fami-

lies. Even though these patterns feel familiar, they do not