Dark Side of Organisation
August 1999 Edition The Johari Window and the Dark Side of Organisations Author: Stewart Hase, Alan Davies and Bob Dick Southern Cross University Keywords: Organisation, management, organisational theory, corporatism, corporatist ideology, social theory, work, self-awareness, Johari Window, individualism, postmodernism. Article style and source: Peer Reviewed. Original ultiBASE publication.
Content
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Abstract Succumbing to Self-interest The Dark Side of Organisations Revealing About Others References
Abstract The dark side of organisations is a phenomenon rarely dealt with in management training programs and spoken of only in whispers in corporate tea rooms. Conspiracies of silence, collusion, 'jobs for the boys ', hidden agendas and collusion are just some of the issues that affect the quality of working life of individuals and the effectiveness of organisations. The Johari Window (Lutz, 1969) has been used here in a modified form to describe aspects of the dark side of the organisation and as a way of bringing them to life for would be players in 'corporate games '. top Succumbing to Self-interest
"Well, human speech be like pictures, only word pictures. When we speaks we paints a word picture that we wants others to see, but we only paints a part o’ the picture what’s in our heads. The other part, usually the most important part, we leaves behind because it be the truth, the true picture. So your ears have to have eyes, so they can see how much o’ the real picture what be in the head be contained in the words!" (Ikey Solomon talking to Tommo and Hawke, the Potato Factory, 1995)
John Ralston Saul (1997) in the Unconscious Civilisation proposes that there is an almost childlike way in which society avoids the reality of its situation, choosing instead to believe a fantasy perpetuated by a corporatist ideology. Legitimacy lies with conformist specialist groups who negotiate between themselves, supposedly for the common good. More
Content
• • • • •
Abstract Succumbing to Self-interest The Dark Side of Organisations Revealing About Others References
Abstract The dark side of organisations is a phenomenon rarely dealt with in management training programs and spoken of only in whispers in corporate tea rooms. Conspiracies of silence, collusion, 'jobs for the boys ', hidden agendas and collusion are just some of the issues that affect the quality of working life of individuals and the effectiveness of organisations. The Johari Window (Lutz, 1969) has been used here in a modified form to describe aspects of the dark side of the organisation and as a way of bringing them to life for would be players in 'corporate games '. top Succumbing to Self-interest
"Well, human speech be like pictures, only word pictures. When we speaks we paints a word picture that we wants others to see, but we only paints a part o’ the picture what’s in our heads. The other part, usually the most important part, we leaves behind because it be the truth, the true picture. So your ears have to have eyes, so they can see how much o’ the real picture what be in the head be contained in the words!" (Ikey Solomon talking to Tommo and Hawke, the Potato Factory, 1995)
John Ralston Saul (1997) in the Unconscious Civilisation proposes that there is an almost childlike way in which society avoids the reality of its situation, choosing instead to believe a fantasy perpetuated by a corporatist ideology. Legitimacy lies with conformist specialist groups who negotiate between themselves, supposedly for the common good. More
References: Chu, Ching-Ning (1997) The Secrets of the Rainmaker, St Ives, Stealth Productions. Courtney, B. (1995) The Potato Factory, Ringwood, Penguin. Luft, J. (1969) Of Human Interaction, Palo Alto, National Press Books. Saul, J.R. (1997) The Unconscious Civilisation, Ringwood, Penguin. top Copyright © Dr. Stewart Hase, Alan Davies and Bob Dick 1999. For uses other than personal research or study, as permitted under the Copyright Laws of your country, permission must be negotiated with the author. Any further publication permitted by the author must include full acknowledgement of first publication in ultiBASE (http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au). Please contact the Editor of ultiBASE for assistance with acknowledgement of subsequent publication. Document URL: http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/aug99/hase1.htm