CHAPTER 1

Deciphering the Human Mysteries of Organizational Life

Elizabeth Florent Treacy

Crisis and Change in the Organizational Context

We are all learning to live within a continual state of global upheaval. We contemplate previously unimaginable near-future possibilities that range from climate catastrophe to civilian space travel. We face challenges of crisis and change that have never been paralleled in all of human history.

Not so long ago, the scope of working life for most people was limited primarily to fields, flocks, or factories. With the tragic exception of war, there was comparatively little interaction between countries on a global scale. The Great Man theory of leadership prevailed: if you could get a capable man—an authoritarian ...

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