Humanity: Organizations as organisms

So, what about us humans and the groups we create? Bertalanffy (1972) thought social systems—like companies or communities—follow the same rules. We bring extras like culture, choice, and values into the mix, but the basics hold. He saw organizations as “organisms” with internal parts (people, teams) that work together and adapt to the outside world (markets, trends).

Picture a company: it pulls in resources (money, talent), processes them (makes products), and sends stuff back out (sales, services) (Katz & Kahn, 1978). Inside, teams and individuals interact like cells in a body, keeping the whole thing alive (McShane & Von Glinow, 2021). If the outside world shifts—say, a competitor emerges—the organization has to adjust, innovate, or risk fading away (Katz & Kahn, 1978). 

This idea became a cornerstone for understanding workplaces. Experts like Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn (1978) turned it into a practical tool for organizational development. They mapped using the systems theory framework: 

• Pattern: The informal relationships—like who really influences decisions.
• Structure: The org chart—who reports to whom.
• Process: How people and tech keep things moving.

With pattern, structure, and process in place, autopoiesis kicks in. In other words, organizations “self-make”. For example, a team finds new collaboration methods (Capra & Luisi, 2014). They’re open (hiring, selling) but have boundaries (company culture) that define them (Katz & Kahn, 1978). And over time, they can develop a shared “mind”—a collective sense or set of beliefs that guide how they act (McShane & Von Glinow, 2021).