Working in an Organization

Abstract

Many of us both enjoy and dislike working in an organization. We enjoy the companionship, which is often what we miss most when we retire, become unemployed or work from home (see Chapter 10). We may also enjoy the sense of collective endeavour and miss that, too, when we leave an organization. We may, unlike an artist, need to work in an organization if we are to be able to exercise our skills. So organizations offer many advantages. However, few of us are lucky enough not to feel frustrated at times when working in them. We may think the policies mistaken and the rules and regulations irritatingly inappropriate for our work. We may have to wait too long for a decision and not like it when it is made. We may find some of those with whom we must work uncongenial, inefficient, obstructive and sometimes even malign. We are unlikely just to regard the organization as a neutral means of earning our living, but may have a love/hate relationship in our feelings to it.