Imprint: Triarchy Press
Published: 2007
List Price: £20.00
Format: Paperback
Extent: 140pp.
Size: 17 x 24.4 cm
ISBN: 978-0-955008-13-9
Tags: organizations, management, hierarchy, heterarchy, autonomy, triarchy theory, Gerard Fairtlough

The Three Ways of Getting Things Done
Gerard Fairtlough
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The Three Ways of Getting Things Done:
Hierarchy, Heterarchy & Responsible Autonomy in Organizations 
Gerard Fairtlough

Triarchy Theory: The definitive text

In his youth Gerard Fairtlough, the author of The Three Ways of Getting Things Done, thought, just like everyone else, that hierarchy was a natural and necessary part of organizations. It took years of working for a large multinational organization for him to begin to doubt that this was so, and more years before he started to explore the alternatives to hierarchy.

In the end he became convinced that it is vital to question hierarchy's inevitability and to develop alternatives to it. Tinkering isn’t enough; huge shifts are needed if our businesses are to become more profitable and creative, if our government agencies are to become more effective, and if our non-governmental organizations are to make real changes in the world and act in a really responsible way.

His method in this book is to expound some general principles and to develop some general models useful in all organizations.

An organization is an entity, is a group of people working together for some purpose. Organization is also an activity, and here the meaning relates to the creation of discipline and order.

He also tells stories about organizations, real and imagined, which illustrate and enliven these principles and models.

Mostly, his arguments are based on organizational learning, on efficiency and effectiveness, on success in achieving organizational purposes, including increased profits for business. But he does not neglect the possibility that alternatives to hierarchy are morally desirable, that they could help people lead better lives.

We must not neglect the possibility that alternatives to hierarchy are morally desirable, that they could help people lead better lives.

In this, his third book on organizations, Gerard takes a radical look at organizational theory and encourages the reader to engage in a new and flexible paradigm for an effective, long-term change in organizational theory and practice.

Readership

For senior managers interested in changing the way their organisation works, this is an eye-opening guide to hierarchy, heterarchy and responsible autonomy. For academics, researchers and MBA students, it has become required reading.

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