Spirit of Organization

I am reading one of the most incredibly enlightening books that I have ever read and I want to thank Kenneth Myers for pointing me toward this amazing resource. I am referring to Karl Popper's two-volume set titled "The Open Society and Its Enemies." I have a feeling I will be referring often to this book in coming posts. Popper wrote this treatise as a response to his personal observation of the events of WWII and his reflections on how philosophy contributed to the rise of totalitarian thinking and to totalitarian states. Popper provides a sweeping panoramic view of the influence of philosophy from early Greek to twentieth century German philosophy. I guarantee that this book will challenge your thinking no matter where you are in your political views. The basic premise of Popper is that totalitarianism in any of its forms, whether Nazism or Soviet style Marxism, finds its roots in philosophy, especially in that of Plato and Hegel. The fundamental driving force of all of these forms of what Popper calls the "Closed Society," is the pernicious influence of historicism, which Popper defines as "sweeping historical prophecies" about how some foreseen future must inevitably and necessarily come about. Historicism leads to totalitarian thinking because it leads political powers into the process of imposing their utopian ideas onto their people and onto the rest of the world.

Popper's book has tremendous implications for organizational management, especially if you agree with me that organizational learning is important and that the potential for creative development is best nurtured in an  open organizational culture.