Those People

We often point at organizations and institutions as if they are one harmonious unchanging body. We give these groups of people adjectives as if they are inherent properties of these groups or organizations. While a system can be self-propagating by breeding the same ideas and culture where it often creates similar groups, no two groups are identical.

However, if one or a few of the mangers changed, what guarantees that the same patterns will remain unchanged? When we call an institution apolitical for example, if the people there changed or were persuaded, wouldn't their behavior also change? Most institutions or groups do not have a set group, most groups are dynamic and ever-changing.  While yes in some groups they share a philosophy that tend to stick, when we are trying to make a change in an institution, it is essential to make this distinction. Is it hard to change this system because of the philosophy or the people.

The reason why this distinction is important because it should determine our strategies. We often personify groups which is an issue because we personification associate groups with inherent qualities. However, when we realize that we can change a group by changing the people we can find a way to start change. Groups are more dynamic when we think of them as individual interactions coming together and change with the seasons.

If the group propagates itself by sustaining a philosophy, then it would be useful to analyze how the philosophy sustains itself. Perhaps we can stop the river from its source. Usually the flow of the philosophy starts from education that precedes the organization.

If the group individuals change often, then it is more likely that the culture of the group would change more often than we think. A good example for such groups is universities and schools where students and instructors are changing every year. So usually it is not fair to generalize a culture based on one or two cohorts. Nevertheless, if a consistent culture is observed then it might be the selection process, but even then a variation is expected.

In a nutshell, personification of groups as a consistent entity is a fallacy and breaking it down could help us deal with them better.