When Common Sense Doesn't Seem to Work!

The Shadow Side of Organisations

Despite the common sense appeal of these approaches, the sought-after results frequently fail to materialise. Managers therefore need to look beyond their traditional thinking and practice if they are to extract value from these initiatives and get to grips with the underlying dynamics of their organisations.

Egan (Adding Value, Jossey-Bass,1993) identifies five aspects of organisations which affect their operation and performance - sometimes for the better, but often for the worse. These are not ordinarily dealt with in the open forums of the organisation and are often referred to as its "shadow side." Egan's five shadow-side elements are:

• various forms of business, organisational and managerial messiness and informality
• the problems and idiosyncrasies of individuals, which arise from the different situations they face and the unique perspectives, attitudes and motivations which they each possess
• the effects of the social processes within the organisation that lead, for example, to the creation of 'in groups' and out groups'
• the impact of political behaviour on the organisation's agenda setting, decision making and action taking; and
• the all pervasive cultural patterns within the organisation or its embedded ways of thinking and acting, which are shaped by - and which shape - the taken-for-granted assumptions about 'how the world works'