The Passive-Aggressive Organization

Harvard Business Review article explores what is ailing many large, well-established companies.

The passive-aggressive organization is a place where more energy is put into thwarting things than starting them—but in the nicest way, according to an article that appears in the October 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review. One quarter of the individuals surveyed by Booz Allen Hamilton describe their organization as suffering from the cluster of pathologies characterized as "passive aggressive." A startling percentage of the organizations that display these symptoms are large, well-established companies.

The passive-aggressive category takes its name from an organization's quiet but tenacious resistance, in every way but openly, to corporate directives. People pay those directives lip service, making only enough effort to appear compliant. Employees feel free to do as they see fit because there are hardly ever unpleasant consequences, and the directives themselves are often misguided and seem worthy of defiance. Booz Allen has found that the passive-aggressive corporation is often the hardest to reform.

Passive aggressive, fits-and-starts, outgrown, overmanaged, just-in-time, military precision, and resilient are the organizational types explored in the forthcoming book by Booz Allen Senior Vice President Gary Neilson and Booz Allen alumnus and Special Olympics President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Pasternack titled "RESULTS: Keep What's Good, Fix What's Wrong, and Unlock Great Performance," which will hit bookshelves on October 18.

Neilson, Pasternack, and Booz Allen Principal Karen Van Nuys are the authors of the Harvard Business Review article "The Passive-Aggressive Organization." Download a PDF copy of the article compliments of Booz Allen using the link below.

story posted September 29, 2005

Additional Information:

Related WebSites...