Series · 4 essays

The Physics of Organizations

Four axioms. Six laws. One adaptive cycle. These essays argue that organizational behavior is not a management problem — it is a structural one. The patterns that show up in every organization, regardless of era or technology, are there because they must be.

  1. 01

    The Organization as an Adaptive System

    Organizations exist to coordinate. They survive by making commitments. They improve by learning. Everything else is an implementation detail.

    9 min read
  2. 02

    The Physics of Organizations

    Four axioms. Six organizational laws. One adaptive cycle. A framework for understanding why organizational patterns are structural — and why they cannot be otherwise.

    14 min read
  3. 03

    The Adaptive Cycle

    Coordination is how organizations think together. Commitment is how organizations decide together. Learning is how organizations change together.

    8 min read
  4. 04

    The Commitment Machine

    A company exists because people can make commitments together that none of them could make alone.

    9 min read