1/ THREAD on thoughts from reading "The Organization Man" published by William Whyte in 1956 which is essentially a download of many of his thoughts and articles about the emerging business world in the 1940s-50s.
His book centered around an idea he called the "social ethic"
His book centered around an idea he called the "social ethic"
2/ He writes about a new kind of person emerging:
"They are the ones of our middle class who have left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization life, and it is they who are the mind and soul of our great self-perpetuating institutions."
"They are the ones of our middle class who have left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization life, and it is they who are the mind and soul of our great self-perpetuating institutions."
3/ In the 1950s, the lines between owners & labor were being blurred:
"We are describing its defects as virtues and denying that there is—or should be—a conflict between the individual and organization. This denial is bad for the organization. It is worse for the individual"
"We are describing its defects as virtues and denying that there is—or should be—a conflict between the individual and organization. This denial is bad for the organization. It is worse for the individual"
4/ TIL Work-Life Balance comes from "broad gage"
"The “broad-gauge” model we hear so much about these days is the man who keeps his work separate from leisure and the rest of his life. Any organization man who managed to accomplish this feat wouldn’t get very far."
"The “broad-gauge” model we hear so much about these days is the man who keeps his work separate from leisure and the rest of his life. Any organization man who managed to accomplish this feat wouldn’t get very far."
5/ Being lost in organizations:
"As our organizations have grown larger...they have created great layers of staff functions and the people in them often feel neither fish nor fowl-intellectuals, yet not of the intellectual world; managerial yet without authority or prestige"
"As our organizations have grown larger...they have created great layers of staff functions and the people in them often feel neither fish nor fowl-intellectuals, yet not of the intellectual world; managerial yet without authority or prestige"
6/ The idea of "belonging" at work emerged post-WWII. The worker became detached from home & place
Whyte Quoting Elton Mayo: “Man’s desire to be continuously associated in work with his fellows,” he states, “is a strong, if not the strongest, human characteristic.”
Whyte Quoting Elton Mayo: “Man’s desire to be continuously associated in work with his fellows,” he states, “is a strong, if not the strongest, human characteristic.”
7/ "Human Capital" Emerged in this 1940s-50s period:
"The human-relations doctrine, however, not only tells them that they are important, but that they are the key figures."
When Becker wrote the book in 1964 it was already a widespread model of the working world.
"The human-relations doctrine, however, not only tells them that they are important, but that they are the key figures."
When Becker wrote the book in 1964 it was already a widespread model of the working world.
8/ The goal of human relations was to "solve" problems
1. Social ethic implies one must collaborate
2. Therefore any breakdowns must be solved
3. Solve problems through science (human capital)
We still have ideas from human capital conception of man guiding how we run companies
1. Social ethic implies one must collaborate
2. Therefore any breakdowns must be solved
3. Solve problems through science (human capital)
We still have ideas from human capital conception of man guiding how we run companies
9/ Link between college and careers.
"The union between the world of organization and the college has been so cemented that today’s seniors can see a continuity between the college and life thereafter that we never did."
The idea that college was for employment was new
"The union between the world of organization and the college has been so cemented that today’s seniors can see a continuity between the college and life thereafter that we never did."
The idea that college was for employment was new
10/ Young people were not rebels:
"What distinguishes the comfortable young men of today from the uncomfortable young men of the last hundred years … is that for once the younger generation is not in revolt against anything…. We don’t want to rebel against our elders.
"What distinguishes the comfortable young men of today from the uncomfortable young men of the last hundred years … is that for once the younger generation is not in revolt against anything…. We don’t want to rebel against our elders.
11/ After the war young people sought security. Whyte quoted a student in 1949:
"I don’t think AT&T is very exciting, but that’s the company I’d like to join. If a depression comes there will always be an AT&T.”
Threads of this still exist today.
"I don’t think AT&T is very exciting, but that’s the company I’d like to join. If a depression comes there will always be an AT&T.”
Threads of this still exist today.
12/ Here are some headlines from the journal of job placement.
These early threads of "career" thinking are a bit awkward. It seems the big companies have gotten a lot better at marketing.
These early threads of "career" thinking are a bit awkward. It seems the big companies have gotten a lot better at marketing.
13/ He was not optimistic about the state of universities where he saw the humanities disappearing, except in elite universities but,"largely for reasons other than the nature of the curriculum, but companies have found that the graduates weren’t permanently hurt by"
14/ Whyte felt that as universities oriented towards serving work they undermined their future:
"Look ahead to 1985. Those who will control a good part of the educational plant will be products themselves of the most stringently anti-intellectual training in the country."
"Look ahead to 1985. Those who will control a good part of the educational plant will be products themselves of the most stringently anti-intellectual training in the country."
15/ His critique was that schools were more focused on "social adjustment" that is teaching the social ethic of how to behave in society
"And look what’s happened to English. Now it is becoming “Communication Skills,”"
"And look what’s happened to English. Now it is becoming “Communication Skills,”"
16/ He saw that the organization man would eventually come to oversee everything
His predictions are pretty wild given I was born in 1985 and this is the reality I grew up with - that the goal was to be liked, collaborative and employable!
His predictions are pretty wild given I was born in 1985 and this is the reality I grew up with - that the goal was to be liked, collaborative and employable!
17/ Another myth coming from this period is the idea of a steady career trajectory.
"many a young man of average ability has been propelled upward so early—and so pleasantly—that he can hardly be blamed if he thinks the momentum is a constant"
"many a young man of average ability has been propelled upward so early—and so pleasantly—that he can hardly be blamed if he thinks the momentum is a constant"
18/ The long work week for knowledge workers was normalized:
"While corporations warn against such a work load as debilitating, in practice...their superiors approved highly of their putting in a fifty-hour week and liked the sixty- and sixty-five-hour week even better"
"While corporations warn against such a work load as debilitating, in practice...their superiors approved highly of their putting in a fifty-hour week and liked the sixty- and sixty-five-hour week even better"
19/ Whyte was not an objective observer. He was very critical of the new norms of "organization man"
"many men have a much stronger attachment to after-hours with their families than to their work, but such cases are the minority;"
"many men have a much stronger attachment to after-hours with their families than to their work, but such cases are the minority;"
20/ It seems workaholism has its roots in this period:
"They are not, they say, the fathers they should be"
“I sort of look forward to the day my kids are grown up,” one sales manager said. “Then I won’t have to have such a guilty conscience about neglecting them.”
"They are not, they say, the fathers they should be"
“I sort of look forward to the day my kids are grown up,” one sales manager said. “Then I won’t have to have such a guilty conscience about neglecting them.”
21/ More tales of workaholics from the 1950s
21/ The challenges men faced when they got promoted. This resonates with my own experience at work in my early 30s.
Lost between two worlds.
Lost between two worlds.
22/ As society was shifting, work became more central:
"a psychological necessity for the individual. In a world changing so fast, in a world in which he must forever be on the move, the individual desperately needs roots, and The Organization is a logical place to develop them"
"a psychological necessity for the individual. In a world changing so fast, in a world in which he must forever be on the move, the individual desperately needs roots, and The Organization is a logical place to develop them"
23/ He thought one of the biggest costs of these broad trends was the death of the "independent researcher"
"there is today a widespread conviction that science has evolved to a point where the lone man engaged in fundamental inquiry is anachronistic"
"there is today a widespread conviction that science has evolved to a point where the lone man engaged in fundamental inquiry is anachronistic"
24/ He offers this thought experiment about applying the social ethic to science but argues that science already had embraced many of the principles.
Looks like Whyte invented Progress Studies?
Looks like Whyte invented Progress Studies?
25/ The final part looks at the decline of cities:
"Except for the older people, for whom such neighborhoods can be ideal, suburbia is the dream, and the neighbor who puts the “For Sale” sign up as he prepares to move to suburbia does so with a feeling that he has made it."
"Except for the older people, for whom such neighborhoods can be ideal, suburbia is the dream, and the neighbor who puts the “For Sale” sign up as he prepares to move to suburbia does so with a feeling that he has made it."
26/ And how this broke the connection between status and family & place
"The family name, as they so often say in retrospect, meant something. No longer: local prestige, they well know, is not for export, and what is one town’s upper-upper would be another’s middle class"
"The family name, as they so often say in retrospect, meant something. No longer: local prestige, they well know, is not for export, and what is one town’s upper-upper would be another’s middle class"
27/ Consumption became a central way to signal status
"Home furnishings are another symbol of emancipation. Merchants are often surprised at how quickly their former customers in city stores discard old preferences when they arrive in suburbia."
"Home furnishings are another symbol of emancipation. Merchants are often surprised at how quickly their former customers in city stores discard old preferences when they arrive in suburbia."
28/ It was hard to know where one stood:
"On the one hand, suburbanites have a strong impulse toward egalitarianism; on the other, however, they have an equally strong impulse to upgrade themselves."
"On the one hand, suburbanites have a strong impulse toward egalitarianism; on the other, however, they have an equally strong impulse to upgrade themselves."
29/ Fitting in = owning trendy stuff b.c. social pressure
"But then, as time goes on and the adjacent housewives follow suit, in a mounting ratio others are exposed to more and more talk about its benefits. Soon the nonpossession of the item becomes an almost unsocial act"
"But then, as time goes on and the adjacent housewives follow suit, in a mounting ratio others are exposed to more and more talk about its benefits. Soon the nonpossession of the item becomes an almost unsocial act"
30/ Safety net through work
"Protestant Ethic morality was identified with savings because of the idea that man...was ultimately responsible for his destiny..As our society has grown more beneficent...the corporation personnel department, have assumed much of the protective job"
"Protestant Ethic morality was identified with savings because of the idea that man...was ultimately responsible for his destiny..As our society has grown more beneficent...the corporation personnel department, have assumed much of the protective job"
31/ We are not going back:
"there are the children of suburbia —a generation of organization people for whom the Depression is not a father’s tale but a grandfather’s. Nobody, as suburbanites sometimes remark, is going back"
"there are the children of suburbia —a generation of organization people for whom the Depression is not a father’s tale but a grandfather’s. Nobody, as suburbanites sometimes remark, is going back"
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
