Customer Reviews

Organization Man

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William Whyte, who was an editor at Fortune magazine, argues in this 1956 bestseller that some people not only worked for an organization, but sold their psyches to them as well. These "organization men" willingly subordinated their personal goals and desires to conform to the demands of corporations and other organizations. This is different than modern-day workaholism -- the "organization men" of the 1950's hoped to gain loyalty, security and "belongingness" in exchange. In their view, the organization is a friend, not a foe; it's should be co-operated with, not questioned.

Whyte argues that the ideology behind the organization man is a "social ethic." Its core beliefs are that the group is superior to the individual, and individuals lack meaning and purpose outside of that group. "Belongingness" is assumed to be the ultimate emotional need of the individual, and to achieve it society should not hesitate to use a bit of social engineering. The result, however, is an ethos of over-conformity at any price.

As Whyte looked around the world in the mid-1950's, he saw the ethos of the Organization Man everywhere. He saw it in college graduates who joined big corporations, pledging their loyalty with visions of a safe stable life in exchange. He saw it in corporate executives who willingly pulled up their roots every time the company wanted to transfer him. He saw it when educators were asked to teach kids social skills so they could get along, rather than teaching academic subjects that forced kids to think for themselves. He saw it in engineering companies that said that there are "no geniuses here; just a bunch of average Americans working together" (although studies show that innovative engineers and scientists are fiercely independent, thus the direct antithesis of the company-oriented man).

So what to do? Whyte says we must realize that although we need the organization, we must know when and how to resist it. We must tread the fine line between self-interested cooperation and psychological surrender. We must realize that although the group can be a friend, it can also be a tyrant.

Even though this book was written about 50 years ago, many of Whyte's messages still ring true today. Yes, times have changed, and worker loyalty to corporations is passe'. Yet this book is worth reading, if only for its historical perspective on the mood in the 1950's. Also, it's well written - after all, Whyte was an editor at Fortune. Recommended.

Wonderful book. Required reading in my sociology course in 1958. Explains how the culture of "robber barons" continued under a new guise after WWII and developed the ultimate corporate planned community and culture. In some places it worked too well and contributed to many social problems of the 60's and 70's. A wonderful companion to " The Stepford Wives", but done as a sociological treatise.Excellent!

Whyte's book is a fascinating read, still, after so many years. It is wonderfully written, filled with anecdotes and telling examples -- and it is above all else to the point: large-scale bureauratic structures have evolved a functionalist climate that thrives on its own logic of operation. Organizations make for an environment that incessantly shapes the conformist functionary, and that drives the creative, intelligent, free-spirited, and self-conscious type of person 'out of business'. The very first pages reveal how salient Whyte's concerns are today, more than fifty years after the first publication of the book. My favorite chapters are 16-18 about the 'education' (read: stultification) of future functionaries and the dubious/odious role big corporations play in this context. A short glance at the role of nowadays educational institutions suffices to have this circumstance confirmed ...

The secondary title applied to this excellent work was " Moulding Team Players for Free Enterprise" The principal idea was how Big Business through the educational system and the prevailing culture indoctrinated a generation of aspiring corporate executives and middle managers into company men - similar to armed forces indoctrination of career officer cadets.
This excellent work is applicable today as it was 50 years ago, and is an invaluable work to all who wish to understand corporate culture. One only has to think of the many examples of Corporate interest over riding individual executives concience to see the relevance.

This book offers a unique sociological look at the American world on the mid-20th Century. Parts of this book are exceedingly boring, but the overall thesis is important, and when the author deals with his argument, he is spot on.

I give this book a 5 star rating because I ordered it used and received and early printing (a nice thing for collectors). Really...It reads like many of the erudite books of the 50s and 60s but it basically shows how the American work psyche and ideas on successful work turned away from free thinking and small business ownership/self employment to top-down driven corporate thought where the boss is right because he's the boss and not because he is right. It made me see the American work psyche as moving towards that of the military work psyche. For example, in the military, if the general says the sky is green, you say yes Sir. In corporate America, I'm sad to say, it is the same. For all of the patriotic types (I'm one of them), I can not apply the same sadness for the military because it requires submission and a top-down system of authority to get some of the crazy things accomplished that debate or double thinking would ruin.

This books benchmarks the change and the process in America to a Yes Man culture. As a footnote, I read this book a while ago but took a while to write a review. I think I will reread it on my next deployment.

College students who are majoring in history, business, sociology, and industrial psychology should read this book. Also, anyone just interested in challenging the status quo will find inspiration within its pages.

This book is an optional reading assignment for my United States history class. It is hard to find in the bookstore because it was first published in the 1950's.