Understanding Organizations...Finally!: Structuring in Sevens

Written by Henry Mintzberg

Narrated by Wayne Shepherd

The iconic Henry Mintzberg provides a crystal-clear map to the forms and forces that shape all human organizations, synthesizing his fifty years of research.

We live in a world of organizations, from our birth in hospitals until our burial by funeral homes. In between, we are educated, employed, entertained, and exasperated by organizations. We had better understand how these strange beasts really work. But where can we go to find out?

Welcome to Understanding Organizations . . . Finally! For half a century, Mintzberg has been observing organizations, advising them, engaging them, and escaping them. Here he offers a masterful update and revision of his 1983 classic, Structure in Fives.

Believing there is one best way to structure organizations is the worst way to do so. A better place to start is by recognizing different species of organizations. Mintzberg identifies seven-personal enterprises, programmed machines, professional assemblies, project pioneers, and others. He explores these forms and the seven forces that drive them toward hybrids and across their life cycles.

You will find no better guide to the care and feeding of these extraordinarily varied and vital creatures than this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781523000081

Henry Mintzberg

Henry Mintzberg is the author of several seminal books, including The Nature of Managerial Work, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, and Managers Not MBAs. He is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University.

Reviews for Understanding Organizations...Finally!

[Jacob J. Walker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was one of the best organizational structure and strategy books I have read. Not because it tells you how you should organize a business or do strategy, but because it shows the multiple methods, and their trade-offs.

Further, while it presents categories, as theories, it does so to try and understand the reality of organizational structure, not the often contrived org chart that businesses are expected to have.

In all, this is a breath of fresh air from someone who has a lifetime of work in this field.