Simple - Institutional order

Simple - Institutional order

INSTITUTIONAL ORDER cannot be successfully imposed when powerful, wealthy or colonizing organizations try to make it happen. Any chaos that takes on tribal forms is unmanageable by abstract, rational or formalized structures. Tribal forms persist while the chaos continues to perpetuate itself. Institutional order only becomes feasible when a change comes over the populace, citizens, market or members of a tribe. The propensity for hostile-vindictive conduct transforms into passive aggressive tactics. Blatant disregard for others evolves into backstabbing, rumors, blackmail and subterfuge. Dependence on the herd for safety transitions into dependence on authority figures for stability. The participants are then ready to be managed, organized and penalized.

When institutional forms can take hold, they do not replace tribal order. Institutions contain tribal dynamics within their formal rationality. Once the unruly mob simmers down, managing their compliance becomes a SIMPLE problem. Conformity is managed with policies, laws, regulations and contracts. Capability gets handled with indoctrination, drills, testing and grading. Comparisons get handled with objective measures, normative standards and stats. Deviance is punished with fines, incarceration, termination of contracts and death. The people, problems, situations and repercussions may not be simple, but institutional order regards them as simple to manage them within its means.

Here are some of the ways an INSTITUTIONAL ORDER contains tribal chaos as SIMPLE problems:

• harbors tribal chaos when it shows up as office politics, turf battles, dispensing privileges to those in the loop, getting outcast as a second class corporate citizen
• camouflages tribal chaos when it's acted out as corruption, scandals, insider deals, bribes, racketeering
• commercializes tribal chaos when it can be exploited as fan worship for film/TV/rock stars, sports icons, political figures,
• sublimates tribal chaos when it can be channeled into consumer brand fanaticism, customer loyalty, fan devotion, collectibles, gatherings
• glorifies tribal chaos when it can be enslaved by hero worship of military service personnel, law enforcement officers and first responders
• sanctifies tribal chaos when it becomes religious fanaticism, devotion to a faith tradition, sacrifice to a religious order
• imprisons tribal chaos when those impulses get expressed as criminal behavior, violation of laws, harm to others

Each of these ways an INSTITUTIONAL ORDER contains tribal chaos as SIMPLE problems ignores the actual complexity of the problem. The simple minded approach fails to address the underlying cause, unmet need or missing half of the whole solution. The necessary oversimplification disregards the countless repercussions, long term consequences and inevitable blow back from reductionistic approaches. The problematic nature of institutional responses makes it vulnerable to getting obsolesced by COMPLICATED - MARKET ORDER dynamics when they emerge.