The Narcissistic Organisation

The more we embed digital elements into our organisations, the more we transfer elements of the psyche of those who write the applications.

A post by Dr. Eric Perry today triggered For me a link to Itchak Adizes work on corporate life cycles.

I suspect that as organisations develop, they can exhibit the qualities outlined by Dr. Perry until they become narcissistic.

They start off, like most organisations, with a clear purpose and a core team who shape it and give it character. Over time however, ownership transfers to external shareholders, and the core team is replaced by new hires.

The original purpose gets lost, and the leadership teams define themselves in terms of the feedback of the shareholders, and before long you have the qualities of narcissism made real in an organisation.

Dr. Perry defines narcissism in these terms:

1. G – Grandiosity

2. A – Arrogant

3. S – Special (the belief that they are special)

4. F – Fantasies of wealth and power

5. E – Entitled

6. E – Exploitive

7. E – Excessi…