Introduction
This descriptive and referenced essay intends to demonstrate the understanding of the philosophy, Hypothesis 2x of Orgtology, which is defined as the study of organisations (Hendrikz 2020), and its practical applicability to establish and maintain a relevant and performing Organization (Org). The Org. in question must be a going concern over its existence for as long as it gives a service or a product that has consumers that will continue to sponsor its existence. This is possible as long as it demonstrates profitability while fulfilling its purpose. This will be possible through a proper demonstration of the dissection of the foundational Hypothesis 2x together with the Orgamatics and Organamics theories that originate from it. As we look at examples of organisations that have survived over time, we will also attempt to demonstrate both the projective activity in strategies, which is disruptive and changes things and the receptive activity, which brings order, stability and maintains things. (Hendrikz 2020).
The Hypothesis
If an Organisation (Org.) comes to existence through an abstract thought from a human mind combined with an implied process, then its existence is both non-physical and physical, since thoughts create processes and processes create things. Therefore, Org is both abstract and mathematical. It is through study of this that one then understands the constructions of Org for a specific purpose and ultimately how it remains relevant to the consumers through performance. It is also possible to prove that this is possible through the evaluation of existing systems and processes and continuous review of projects that emanate from strategies. If for instance, a railway industry manages their general operations and their strategy as a duality, they are then able to control the relevance of their performance to their market or sponsors because strategy secures relevance whilst operations ensure performance.
Unpacking Hypothesis 2X
Hypothesis 2x denotes the duality of being, primarily, non-physical and physical. There are other forms of duality such as being an abstract thought and being a practical process, being projective and being receptive, etc. captured by the number two (2). The x denotes the X-factor that comes from the human mind that works out the abstract nature of thoughts, which are unique, unpredictable, creative and innovative. It then suffices to say that once an Org. is conscious, its continued existence depends on how it executes its operations and strategies using the existing systems and processes. If an Org. manages their strategies and operations as a duality, they are able to control the relevance of their performance, since strategy secures relevance whilst operations ensure performance resulting it being a Relevant and Performing Organisation (RPO). The study and application of scientific assumptions through a science called Orgtology where a number of theories produce adequate data to provide conclusive explanations of the stated phenomena as applicable to Org.
The study of this phenomenon is Orgtology, which looks at two parts of the Organisation. The first part of the study called "Organamics" looks at the abstract thoughts from the dynamic human x-factor of its employees throughout the organizational structure that defines the outputs expected from the systems or processes of the Org. The words Org and Dynamics combined form Organamics. The second part studies the scientific mathematical algorithm, explained as a system that processes inputs into specific outputs called "Orgamatics". The prefixes Organisation and Systems form this word. When the two coexist in synchronism, meaning in duality, they give birth to a living Organisation. In his explanation "to understand Orgtology", Hendricks Derek states that in order to grasp Orgtology, one must understand duality. For Org to exist, it needs projective and receptive parts that interact. This creates the duality. Organamics deals with strategy and leadership. This is the projective part of Org because its aim is to disrupt and create change Orgamatics deals with organisational processes and systems. This is the receptive part of Org because like an eco-system, it cycles without restraint. He further explains that, in this duality, Org. holds complexity through abstract thought and creates simplicity through algorithm. It is then deduced that complexity is the projective element as it alters simplicity while simplicity is the receptive element, since it depends on the complexity that it must hold. One can also deduce that simplicity is the most complex way of understanding Org. The same Hypothesis 2x can also be used to conclude that the performance of an RPO is largely due to the X-factor it employs from the human resource as depicted in figure 1. These are the unique human thoughts and ideas that work within the Org. from its inception that determine its relevance and performance during its lifetime and way into the future. The two parts of Hypothesis 2x, namely Organamics that describes its X-factors and Orgamatics that describes its systems reveals a relevant and performing Org. (RPO) that establishes and implements strategic plans that craft initiatives to survive and thrive sustainably in harsh environments and changing time.
Human beings have studied mathematical modelling through differential equations that can be applied to nature as shown in the Langton's Ant – Order out of Chaos, 2013, which uses computing to illustrate complexity (and order) in nature. Langton's Ant shows how very simple initial rules can have very unexpected consequences. Langton's Ant follows two simple rules. The first rule is that, at a white square, you turn 90° right, flip the colour of the square, and move forward one unit. The second rule is that, at a black square, turn 90° left, flip the colour of the square, move forward one unit. In this model, the ant exists on an infinite grid where it is able to travel in the four cardinal points. The expectation is that the pattern generated to either appear completely random, or to replicate a fixed pattern. What actually happens is that a chaotic pattern emerges for the first 10,000 iterations followed by an orderly and continuous diagonal "highway". Differential equations (ordinary and partial) have a remarkable ability to predict the world around us in the form of algorithms. They are used in a wide variety of disciplines, such as biology, economics, physics, chemistry and engineering to mention but a few. They can describe exponential growth and decay, the population growth of species, the operation of an electrical machine or the change in investment return over time.
The formation of an Organisation
Organisations go through a lifecycle that involves conception, formation, birth, growth, renewal and death. The founding individuals establish them to serve a purpose. They also give it a name, and define its role through rules, systems and processes and that is the algorithm or mathematical model of the Organisation. This is the stage where targets, operations and the defined efficiency of the system's processes are established. The mission and strategy articulates the intent, which defines what the Org. wants to do with the role. At the formation stage, the effort and resources applied are such that 100% is on the intent and 0% on purpose, while later once the Org. is performing it adjusts to an 80-20 to 60-40% distribution respectively. The same distribution of effort ratios apply to strategic and operational activities.
Some organisations come into being by acts of parliament, where by the government of the day, through its elected and cabinet members, pronounces the establishment of a State Owned Entity (SOE). These entities, sometimes called Parastatals, are to partake in the commercial space to provide an enabling environment to stimulate the economy while controlling the cost of such services. The controls or regulations are to make essential services affordable to the public. This was the case when one of such companies when the Swaziland Railway Act of 1962 established and mandated present Eswatini Railways (ESR) through an act of parliament. The purpose of ESR is "To provide or to secure and promote the provision of an efficient and adequate system of public transport of goods and passengers by rail with due regard to economy and safety of operations and to supply the needs of Swaziland for rail services to the fullest possible extent consistent with the resources of the railway".
These Orgs go on to state their Mission, Vision and Values that communicate who they are, what they promise to deliver and how they will deliver it guided by the listed values as shown on figure 1. Their Mission states that they provide total logistics solutions to promote trade. That is a very concise definition of their purpose where they outline what they do. Their vision continues to state that they are the only preferred logistics partner to global markets. That is how they see themselves and how they want to position themselves to their sponsor to be relevant when they state where they want to go. Their values are their working tools to achieve both the mission and the values and in this case, their core values are Reliability, Accountability, Professionalism and People Centric. In other words as this alive Org performs its promise to its local and international customers; it also pledges what its pure Beliefs, Values and Attitudes, and namely its behavior will be towards them. The assessment of the agents through whom it will perform its purpose and function will confirm their conformity to the pledge for retention or expulsion from the Org. This confirms that a Relevant and Performing Organisation (RPO) requires a Relevant and Performing Individual (RPI) in order to be a going concern. This is the essence of the theories of Hyphothesis 2X as it deals with Relationships and Relations.
The quote "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." by Lou Holtz says a lot about what kind of employees will make or break an Org. which talks to the RPI. While the RPI performs their various roles, their beliefs, values and attitudes are constantly interacting with those of the colleagues at the workplace they are likely to align to those who seem to share their core values and beliefs as a team. There is extensive similarity in the semantics of beliefs, values and attitudes; however, these are also distinct constructs as illustrated in figure 3 below. A RPI needs positive attitudes in order for them to be motivated and to apply themselves in any task. Positive or negative attitudes ascend from core values and beliefs that they hold internally. Beliefs are assumptions and convictions that they hold to be true based on their experiences while values are those worthy ideas based on things, concepts and people and these affect the Human X-Factor. Behaviours are how the individuals in the daily duties express these internalised systems, namely the attitudes, beliefs and values.
The points below are critical for the understanding, assessment and management of RPO and RPI in Org.
- There is a difference between attitudes and behaviours.
- Internalised individual beliefs and value systems begets positive or negative attitudes.
- Expressed behaviour emanates from attitudes, capabilities or circumstances.
- Assess attitudes and use behaviours as examples for effective and objective personal management.
- Continuous feedback and behaviour management can improves individual's attitudes.
- Intentional change in attitudes can also change values and beliefs and vice versa.
- A good understanding of these constructs can help personal and organisational management.
As of the year 2020, there were one hundred and thirty one (131) state owned enterprises in South Africa. Many of which were highly subsidized as they were not performing well, due to not only profitability but also sustainability and relevancy and. They merely survived by subventions as the government has a duty to intervene to meet their responsibility of stimulating the economy under the changing circumstances that introduce both risks and opportunity. As such, each time Org. goes through the cyclic re-strategising process, they run an EOP (risk Exposure, Opportunities, and Process efficiency) analysis. This helps to identify internal and external changes that have occurred overtime that may be a threat to relevance, efficiency, or exploitable opportunities to ensure relevance or process improvements. Some of the changes may require capitalization commitment of funds while some may require cost savings which introduces the subject of inverse duality in that there must be equilibrium when it comes to the utilization of scarce resources, be it the human capital or finance capital. Hypothesis 2x defines the dual nature of Org. through Orgamatics and Organamics. Orgamatics best define this as it helps us to understand the duality of organisations by exploring the relationship between the projective and receptive elements of the Org. These are essential for the existence of Org. The projective part of Hypothesis 2x is the disruptive element that brings the necessary radical change that Org. needs to stay relevant while avoiding entropy. This what happens when the leadership and management of Org. take a retreat and go through the exercise of strategic planning sessions. It is true that if Org. is not growing, it is definitely dying and Org. must do all that is within their power to avoid it. This X-Factor element comes about from the organized unique and unpredictable intelligence, thoughts, ideas only found in the human mind, which is the capital resource or employees of Org. It is worth mentioning that other forms of systems only operate from the cyclic algorithm that does not need leadership nor does it need any strategy. Org. needs both the projective abstract thought model and the receptive algorithm mathematical model to interact continuously for it to be Relevant and Performing Organisation (RPO) at the same time. Where Organamics will be dynamic, chaotic and disruptive to the norm, Orgamatics will bring order, security, predictability and stability. This is another aspect of duality. Application of the four theories in RPO
Use of Theory 2I of Orgtelligence
This theory deals with intelligence and intellect, thus the 2I. The definition of Orgtelligence as applied in Orgtology is the collective intelligence of Org. Derek Hendrikz came up with this phrase in 2016 where he defined Orgtelligence as the sum of all implied and tacit intelligence within Org. Orgtology views an Org. as an intelligent system that connects abstract thoughts within an algorithmic network. In other words, Org comes to existence when humans and systems collaborate to serve the purpose of Org through activity relations and relationships. The abstract thinking from the human brains is tacit intellect while the algorithmic process intelligence is implied intelligence. Orgtology holds the view that Orgtelligence is superior to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in that it uses both the AI and the irrational thoughts, ideas and creativity from humans to ensure a RPO. The collaboration between AI and humans tends to create a conscious force called Org. The Tacit Intelligence is projective and disruptive as it changes the normal way of things in order to ensure that Org, remains relevant. The implied intelligence is receptive and brings order to Org. for effective outputs and outcomes that ensure performance of the RPO. It is no wonder then that people talk of Institutional Memory that requires downloading from the experienced employees as they leave Org. to retire.
Use of Theory 2P of Work
This Theory 2P relates to the relation between process-based work and project-based work thus the 2P. It looks at the actual performance of work to produce the desired services or products. Projects are the projective part as they introduce new systems and or upgrades existing ones within a fixed period and as such come from the strategic plan programs. The process within Org. is concerned about following adopted processes and procedures new are the established algorithmic. Organized work creates wealth all over the world. This is what drives small and large economies. If you organise passionate, motivated and energetic individuals together in a structured way and provide them with the necessary resources, they are bound to produce work that has value. This process converts one form of energy to the other according to the preservation of energy theory, which states that energy is never lost but only transformed. Algorithm and process is the same thing. It is an explicit specification or formula that defines how to solve mathematical or scientific problems, perform calculations, data processing big data, design systems automation, and other real life tasks. It entails a set of rules that command the measure of activity to realise specific organisational objectives using single or multiple variables or inputs both at strategic and operational levels. The variables at the disposal of work are dependency and interdependency flow; space, time; task; authority; resources; outputs; targets; etc. This theory states that processes can be conscious or subconscious. Corporate planning and systems or process reengineering are conscious processes, whilst survival and evolution are subconscious processes. Some Org. opts for a Blue Ocean Strategy where they venture into untapped or virgin territory in order to be relevant. Any organized sequence of tasks or work with specific inputs creates a process with a specific, measurable and consumable output. This confirms that all projects and procedures are processes. However, not all processes and procedures are projects.
Use of Theory 2E of results
This theory deals with effectiveness and efficiency and this derives the 2E. This theory aims to quantify what Org. achieves through effort. It helps us to understand the relationship between performance and relevance of the RPO. Effectiveness measures our relevance through outcome whilst efficiency will measure our performance through outputs. Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired, expected, intended result or the ability to produce a desired output that makes an intense impression to the user, recipient or consumer forcing them to want it continuously. The other name for this is quality. Org. may be very efficient in producing certain goods that do not sell which means the good outputs would not be making the necessary impact to the consumers who would not be enticed to buy them, thus zero outcome and zero relevance. That is why in the Railway Transport space, some service end up subsidized by others, for an example maintaining a nonprofit passenger division is for political reasons to appease the population by providing an affordable subsidised transportation while the revenue earner would be the freight division. Even with the freight, not all commodities earn the same revenue but can be a requirement to stimulate the economy of a country, thus resulting in cross-subsidisation to keep the balancing at equilibrium. Efficiency is more about what you get as an output depending on how much you put into the process as a percentage and the wastefulness of the system. A key performance indicator of the Railway Industry is the transit time that it takes to run a train from one point to the other within the estimated time of arrival, ETA and how many times that is repeatedly achieved to show predictability. To be operational efficient, an Org. needs to create a process construct where a map of all the work from the core processes that needs doing. This construct states how the Org. aims to ensure high performance, how they aim to measure efficiency and how they understand their risk exposure.
Use of Theory O of the RPO.
The fourth theory embraces or glues all the other three theories and seals the definition of RPO. It gives a mathematical construct for creating an RPO using Venn diagrams. It is at the intersection of the other three theories that RPO occurs as shown in figure. The process, project and relationship constructs illustrates in figure 5. Performing work takes two forms at a time. The first form is a cyclic, rhythmic, repetitive process that follows rules and procedures defined in a specific algorithm that improves and perfected over time experience. over time where Org. can only improve how well they do it or as a once off project that has one life and handed over to process once it is complete. Cycled work is a process while complete work is a project. Repetitive work receptive as it maintains things, whilst non-repetitive work is projective as it changes things. It is the repetitive tasks that are organised to form a process construct. The work done only once, with a start date and a finish date is organised to form a project construct. Where the two meets in the Venn diagram defines the Orgtelligence and work of Org. The relationships construct illustrates the work of Org done through relations and relationships. This construct holds the rules and dynamics of the relationships that Org must have in order to function. The aim of this construct is to help Org create the reciprocal values between outputs and outcomes. Org. sells a value proposition within its space of operation that must be beneficial to its stakeholders in order to be relevant and get sponsorship. Where the relationships construct meets the process construct is where performance, efficiency occurs. Where this construct meets the project construct is where effectiveness, relevance and outcomes occur.
Orgamatics deals with inverse duality where a decrease of the value of one results in an increase to the dual side just like what happens in a scale of equilibrium. The aim is to do a continuous balancing between dual concepts to discover the sweet spot of symmetry or synchronism. For instance, in as much as Strategy drives relevance, operations ensure performance and resources and effort must be well distributed between the two as spending more time on each may compromise the other and ultimately affect the existence of Org. Strategy holds the non-repetitive work that we must do to change things in order to remain relevant. Operations hold the repetitive work that Org must do to maintain things effectively. As such, strategy secures relevance whilst operations ensure performance in a RPO. It is the function of Orgamatics to ensure a RPO. The theory reveals that Relevance is tantamount to doing the right things whilst Performance is concerned about doing those things right. This a further illustration of inverse duality which confirms that an increase in effort to stay relevant will decrease the effort to perform and the opposite holds true as they draw from the same resource pool in terms of time and human capital.
Summary
In conclusion, Orgtology, which is the scientific study of organisations, states that Org., which is non-physical and physical, comes into existence as a manifestation of the tacit and non-physical thoughts, ideas and creativity by human beings that establishes it with a specific mandate. The Org. is mandated and assigned to perform using physical resources and inputs that for processing in a system to produce outputs that requires a natural algorithm of its purpose and intent. After conception, Org. is nurtured and nourished properly to take it through the delicate stage of formation until its delivery and achievement of purpose that must be beneficial to its makers while it is a relevant and performing Org. that they perform their work without even thinking about it. This possible through proper management of their strategy and their operations as a duality, which enable them to control their relevance and their performance to their market or sponsors because strategy secures relevance whilst operations ensure performance and that is how they are a RPO. This requires a periodic internal reprocessing and reengineering of the established processes through projects and restrategising to reposition and strengthen the initial proposition and assignment. In their article "Developing High-Performing Organizations: Keys to Recruiting, Retaining, and Developing People Who Make the Difference" Ben Sawa and Sonia Swift emphasise on the human x-factor and how it can the individual and the work environment can be trained and molded to achieve an RPI and an RPO. In that paper, they introduce five people aspects of creating competitive advantages namely:-
(1) a belief in individual responsibility and autonomy and a strong sense of team collaboration;
(2) a culture of continual training, education, and mentoring;
(3) a challenging work environment in which everyone is committed to excellence;
(4) open communication and collaboration; and
(5) strong leadership to challenge and support employees to reach higher levels of success.
They then show that implementing a few simple ideas can drastically change the culture of an organization and the temperament of its devoted employees can contribute to the company's overall strategy, performance and sustainability.
References
BOOKS:
Jung, C.G. [1921] (1971). Psychological Types, Collected Works, Volume 6, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01813-8
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