Learning How "And" Works

“You think because you understand one you must understand two, because one and one makes two. But you must also understand and.” --Sufi teaching

This subtlety represents the change of thinking that is necessary to re-organize our conceptions about how people and organizations function. I like the compact form of this proverb (my thanks for Margaret Wheatley for it) because it doesn't negate the linear value of one and one. Instead, it points out that this linear thought is incomplete. I don't see the transition to different organizational forms as something that will eradicate what we've learned about organizational behaviour, management practices, and various aspects of our current systems. The change will, however, re-map the whole landscape and order the relations in new configurations. Adaptive organizational forms will unseat the privilege of the linear and use it strategically rather than giving it unthinking access to important decision making.