Contents | 1. Introduction | 2. Stories we are in | 3. Ways of seeing | 4. Characteristics
5. Organisational review questionnaires | 6. Resources

Most of us work in organisations.

Most of us would prefer to work in a thriving organisation than a declining, withering or stagnant organisation.

Building thriving organisations is complex. There is an enormous management literature devoted to how to build thriving organisations.

Here are three ideas to consider.

The stories we are in

To understand organisations one needs to understand the social, economic, political and other contexts in which they operate.

So to build thriving organisations we need to understand the stories we are in.

Conceptualising organisations

There are many ways of conceptualising organisations, many ways of seeing organisations.

Each of us has preferred ways of seeing organisations.

To build thriving organisations it is useful to be aware of our preferences for the way we see organisations and the implications of this. It is also useful to understand how others see organisations.

Characteristics of thriving organisations

To build thriving organisations it is useful to have a view about what we think are the characteristics of a thriving organisation.

It is useful to make explicit what we are working towards.