Book Review: Birth of the Chaordic Age

Birth of the Chaordic Age, by Dee Hock, opens the door to exciting ideas and new ways of thinking about organizations. Birth of the Chaordic Age is a landmark book in which Hock provides his philosophy about the fundamental nature of people and organizations. Read the full review of this book.

"Our current forms of organization are almost universally based on compelled behavior — on tyranny, for that is what compelled behavior is, no matter how benign it may appear or how carefully disguised and exercised. The organization of the future will be the embodiment of community based on shared purpose calling to the higher aspirations of people," states Dee Hock in the prologue to his landmark book.

What follows reads like a novel in which Hock details the exciting sequence of events that resulted in VISA International. The book is worth reading for this story alone.

However, Hock takes his readers to another level by introducing “Old Monkey Mind.” In these portions of the book, he intermingles the story of VISA with his lifelong learning. He provides his philosophy about the fundamental nature of people and organizations. As an example, he coined the word "chaordic" to describe the "behavior of any self-governing organism, organization or system which harmoniously blends characteristics of order and chaos. The book embodies the application of these philosophies to the running of an actual organization, VISA International.

Moving from the philosophical to the realistic, take employee retention as an example. In the Chaordic Age, Hock suggests that employees will self-select organizations based on their personal congruence with the stated purpose and values of the organization. They will continue to work in an organization that allows them to have an equitable, exciting, creative, challenging role in determining both the overall direction and the daily activities.

In an article about training transfer, Ten Tips to Make Training Work, I discussed one aspect of how to make training impact actual work within your organization. Consider this alternative: an organization in which people select classes based on their own perceived need for the training in order to accomplish their mission within their organization. Just how powerful would this be? Incredibly.

I highly recommend Birth of the Chaordic Age as one of the first books you read about the new science of complexity. It opens the door to exciting ideas and new ways of thinking about organizations. If you lean toward left-brain, linear thinking, as I do, the book will help you tap into your creative, exploring, right-brain thinking as well.

Do you have books you'd recommend to HR professionals? I am always interested in your recommendations. Please send email to your Guide. Or, please share your thoughts in the Human Resources Forum so that a broader group of people can benefit from your thinking.

Hock, Dee. Birth of the Chaordic Age. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 1999.