Challenging Reality: In Search of the Future Organization

According to Barnatt, the evolution of cyberspace and computer mediated interaction is having a profound effect on civilization--it is altering our very perception of reality. In this thought-provoking book, he explores what our future view of reality is likely to be and how it will change our organizations--business, political and social. Barnatt emphasizes that this is by no means the first time humanity has dealt with shifts in our fundamental understanding of reality--religious, scientific and social revolutions have created many such periods. And so he holds that our best means of understanding what's to come is not merely to compare today to yesterday but to examine previous periods of massive change. He accomplishes this by analyzing five facets of the way we, as organizational creatures, view reality: the types of goals we set, the types of roles individuals play in organizational life, the types of media used to transmit ideas, the physical area that an organization can expect to dominate, and the types of work functions that enable the organization to function. He looks at all these facets in terms of fundamental structure rather than superficial form. For example, he sees the most important change in media to be the transition from single channel to multi-channel to the coming mega-channel rather than the obvious changes in speed and reach--although those are important as well. By exploring how these facets evolved from the past and through the present, he offers glimpses of the possible future of organizational life